Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better
by broadwaybaby4205
Summary: COMPLETE! PreRENT High School fic. AU. Pairings: RogerMimi, MarkMaureen, CollinsAngel, RogerApril, BennyAllison, and lots of MimiMaureen FRIENDSHIP.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hello, peoples. This going to be my first multi-chaptered fic! It's a high school fic and takes place in 1985. I know all the bohos are different ages, but too bad. In this fic, they're all sophomores. The pairing are eventual Mark/Maureen, eventual Roger/Mimi, eventual Collins/Angel, Roger/April, Benny/Alison, and it's gonna be really heavy on Mimi/Maureen FRIENDSHIP. I may make Joanne in it, but if so, she won't be with anyone. She'll just be…there. Anywho, I'm gonna write this chappie and if I get at least two reviews from someone other than my friends, then I will continue it and not delete it. Anywho, read, enjoy, and review! **

**Disclaimer: Jonathan Larson owns all. **

A Hispanic girl who was about 5'6" with long, curly, brown hair and big brown eyes looked at herself in the mirror. **(A/N: I know Rosario Dawson's 5'7" and Daphne Rubin-Vega's 5'2", but I just decided to make Mimi 5'6", so yeah. Use your imagination.)** She wasn't exactly fat, but she wasn't exactly thin and it still bothered her. She wanted so badly to get the role of Velma in Scarsdale High School's production of "Chicago", it killed her. But she knew that, as usual, the role would go to her best friend Maureen Johnson. Both Mimi and Maureen performed. Mimi had been dancing since she was five and had taken numerous acting classes; however, Maureen always seemed to get all of the attention. Maureen had never had a dancing lesson or an acting class, but regularly took singing lessons and was certainly Scarsdale High's shining star. She got the lead in every production and was known to be the best performer in the school. Mimi personally thought one of the reasons was because Maureen was prettier. She was thinner, more well-liked, and all around prettier. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't. She didn't hate Maureen. She was her best friend, but she just wanted to be better than her once. Her thoughts were soon interrupted by the sound of her name being called.

"Mimi Marquez!"

"Good luck", Maureen whispered in her friend's ear as Mimi stood from her chair and entered her school's theater.

"What part are you auditioning for?"

"Velma Kelly", Mimi responded.

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Mimi exited the theater, feeling relatively confident. The judges seemed pleased with her and she didn't mess up her monologue or song once. When she got out, she found Angel, her other best friend, standing with Maureen. Maureen was dressed in black skinny leg pants, heeled black boots, and a tank top, while Angel stood dressed in jeans and a white wife beater.

"Mimi! Chica! How'd it go?" Angel exclaimed.

Mimi hugged Angel and replied saying, "I think it went pretty well!"

"I totally blew it!" Maureen exclaimed with a hint of disappointed, "I mean, what idiot had the idea of making auditions before school? I practically fell asleep halfway through my song."

"What'd you audition with?" questioned Angel.

"Adelaide's Lament from 'Guys and Dolls'", Maureen informed.

"Well, we better get to first period guys", Mimi reminded her friends.

"Ick. Meems, we have history", Angel reminded her.

"Yeah, I better get to Biology", Maureen sadly stated, "See you guys in third period!"

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Maureen entered biology and sat down next to her friend Tom Collins, who was wearing an oversized coat and his signature beanie that Maureen had given him two Christmases ago.

"Hey, Mo! How'd auditions go?" Collins inquired.

"Good, I think. I auditioned for the role of Velma", Maureen informed her friend.

"Did Mimi audition for the same thing?" Collins questioned.

"Yeah", Maureen mumbled. Maureen knew Mimi really wanted the role and that she never got as much credit as her, but she really wanted that role too. She felt bad for Mimi sometimes, since she always lived in her shadow, but oh well. She chose to remove all thoughts of the play from her head. She turned to see Mark Cohen sitting down next to her. Mark was a scrawny Jewish boy who was about 5'8" and wore glasses, as well as a striped wool scarf. He was yet another member of their group of friends.

"Hey, Marky!" Maureen squealed throwing her arms around him, while Mark visibly blushed. Mark had had a huge crush on Maureen ever since the third grade, but Maureen didn't know it, nor did anyone else. He was shocked they weren't onto him.

As Maureen hugged Mark she felt a stirring in the pit of her stomach. She had been friends with Mark since kindergarten and that was all. But lately, she'd been feeling differently about him. But she couldn't like Mark. She just couldn't. She couldn't ruin their friendship like that.

"Attention class!", the teacher's voice boomed, awakening Maureen from her thoughts.

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Mimi and Angel unenthusiastically entered American history and took their seats next to each other in the back of the classroom next to their friend Benny. Benny was 5'10". He was African-American and had chocolate colored brown eyes, similar to Mimi's.

"Attention, class!" their teacher, Mrs. Fredericton, shouted, "It has come to my attention that this class clearly can not handle having free seating. You chatter incessantly and are clearly learning nothing; therefore, you will all be getting assigned seats."

The class groaned in response.

"Coffin, Benjamin, you will placed in that seat next to Grey, Allison" Mrs. Fredericton boomed.

Angel and Mimi gave Benny a look of pity as he glumly took his place next to Alison Grey. Alison was 5'8" and had long, wavy blonde hair and blue eyes. She was gorgeous and guys loved her, but she didn't exactly have a winning personality. The teacher continued on reading the new seating chart. Angel was happy with his seat, for he was put next to another one of their friends, Joanne Jefferson. A tall African-American girl with short black hair. Finally, the teacher called out Mimi's name.

"Marquez, Mimi will be sitting their, next to Davis, Roger"

Oh. No. God, help me. Those were the only words running through Mimi's mind as she took her seat next to Roger Davis. Roger wasn't mean to her. He never said anything to her, but she just simply didn't like him. At all. He was 6 feet tall, and had bleach blonde hair and ice blue eyes. He was fun to look at, she admitted. But, he was part of the 'in' crowd. He didn't play football or anything like that. He played guitar and could easily be given the 'rocker' stereotype. He apparently had a pregnancy scare with his girlfriend, April Ericsen, and apparently the two were shooting up heroin. Roger never spoke to Mimi, but he had a bad reputation and Mimi tried to avoid him at all costs. As Roger plopped down next to Mimi, she sighed. It was only October. She looked down at her teal leg warmers. It was gonna be a long year.

**A/N: Sorry, this chapter was kind of boring. I was kind of trying to introduce everyone and set like, a setting. I'll try to post chapter two as soon as possible if I get two reviews. Otherwise I'm gonna delete this. Sorry, but like, no one reviews my stories, and if no one's reading them, I'm not gonna keep writing. Anywho, push the shiny purple button! **


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: Thank you so much to all of you that reviewed

**Author's note: Thank you so much to all of you that reviewed! I didn't even expect es.one review, so thank you so much! It means a lot! ******** Anywho, aqui esta chapter two. Just so you all know, thus far in my fic, Angel has come out and Collins, Joanne, and Maureen don't know yet. Key word being yet. Anywho, enjoy and don't forget to review! Thank you very much! **

**Disclaimer: The fabulous Jonathan Larson owns all.**

It had only been fifteen minutes since first period history and it seemed like an eternity since she'd entered class. Maybe it was just because they were finally going to announce who got what roles in "Chicago" that afternoon, but each minute seemed like years. Mrs. Fredericton was lecturing about some extremely boring thing having to do with the Great Depression, and quite frankly, she didn't care. Normally, she would turn and talk to whoever she sat by, but no. She was stuck with Roger Davis. It had been two days since she'd been placed by him and she still had never said a word to him. She turned and looked at him. He was doodling something in his notebook. She began to wonder what was going on inside his head. Mimi began pondering. What if she was wrong about him? It was a great possibility that he was actually a really good guy and an interesting person, but from the stuff she'd heard about him, she didn't want to stick around and find out. At that point, Roger looked up at her and she immediately looked back at Mrs. Fredericton.

Roger Davis stared at his notebook, using his black ballpoint pen to draw a series of black scribbles in it. Damn, history was boring. He looked up at the girl sitting next to him to find her looking at the teacher with a look of sheer boredom and misery in her chocolate-colored eyes. He had never spoken to Mimi Marquez, although he knew who she was. Scarsdale High School was relatively small, with only seventy kids per grade, and everyone knew everyone. Mimi hung out with the "artsy losers" and Roger was amongst the 'in' crowd. He didn't really fit the profile though; he had bleach blonde hair and could typically be seen in plaid pants and a black leather jacket. He examined Mimi once again. She wasn't bad to look at. She had long shiny black curly hair and large shining eyes, perhaps the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. He looked at her and wondered if she believed all the rumors about him that constantly floated around; the pregnancy scare, the cheating, and the heroin. He and April were having sex, but they had not had a pregnancy scare. There was also a rumor that he slept around and cheated on April constantly. Once again, that wasn't true. Roger may not have been Mr. Perfect, but he would never do that to April. He cared about her. He didn't love her though. He had heard throughout his life that love was supposed to be magical, like a million bolts of electricity were shooting through your body when you were around that one special person. Roger didn't feel that around April; he was numb. Oh, and the drugs. Ah, the drugs. Roger was not a heroin addict; he was smarter than that, but he did smoke joints. If there was one thing Roger wished it was that people wouldn't label him for it. His social life didn't suffer and he felt as if people saw him differently.

"Roger? Roger Davis?" Mrs. Fredericton interrupted.

"Hmm, what?" Roger mumbled.

"What year did Franklin Delano Roosevelt come up with the idea of the New Deal?" she continued to interrogate.

"Uhm, uh, I don't know ma'am", Roger stuttered.

"Well, I suggest paying attention next time Mr. Davis".

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Maureen sighed and smiled as she shoved her English books in her locker. Finally. fourth period. Maureen lived for fourth period every day. It was the reason she didn't spend every school day sitting at the Scarsdale Mall drinking root beer floats from A&W and watching people pass by. Drama class. Finally. It was her favorite class for three reasons. First of all, it was drama and Maureen lived for theatre. Second of all, Mark and Mimi were in it; the guy she liked and her best friend, so that was an upper. And third of all, it was her chance to shine. If there was one thing Maureen was good at it was performing.

"Hey, Mo", Mimi shouted as she approached her friend's locked.

"Hey, Meems, how were your morning classes?" Maureen questioned.

"Well, let's see. In first period, we got new seats and I got stuck by Roger Davis and second period I had PE and got hit in the head with a soccer ball, so that sucked. Third period was good though. Angel, Collins, Benny, and I had study hall so we drove to McDonald's and got food. But, Benny insisted on bringing Alison", Mimi grumbled, rolling her eyes at the last statement.

"Alison? Alison Grey? Why is Benny hanging out with her?" Maureen asked, dumfounded.

"Well, they got seated by each other in history and they apparently really hit it off. Benny claims they're friends, but I personally think he has a thing for her", Mimi explained.

"Why? She's so evil. Ugh. Whatever, let's just find Mark and get to drama."

Within a matter of minutes, the girls had found Mark and were already seated in drama.

"Okay, class", hollered Miss Sherman, "I need you to find a scene partner and I'm going to give you guys a topic and you will have to improve a scene."

As if on cue, a guy who looked about six foot three walked over.

"Maureen, do you wanna work with me?" he confidently asked.

"Sure", Maureen answered with a shrug toward Mimi and Mark as she walked off.

"M'kay, I guess that means you're my scene partner, Marky," Mimi smiled.

"Mmmhmm", Mark answered, a distracted tone in his voice as he glared jealously at Maureen with her scene partner.

"Mark? Hello! Earth to Mark!" Mimi giggled as she waved hand in front of mark's face.

"Sorry, Meems, yeah, I'll be your scene partner", Mark answered despondently.

"Can I ask you a question?" Mimi asked.

"Sure," Mark answered distractedly as he stared into space.

"Do you like Maureen? I mean, as more than a friend", Mimi wondered.

"Whaaa??" Mark practically shouted, being jolted back to planet Earth.

"Ohmigod. You like her don't you? You do! I knew it!" Mimi exclaimed, doing a mental conga line.

"Shh, Mimi, she'll hear you. If you must know, yes, I like Maureen, but don't tell her. I really don't wanna ruin our friendship. We've known each other since we were five", Mark pleaded.

"Don't worry. Trust me, I won't tell Maureen. I think you should though", Mimi suggested.

"Why? It's not like she'd ever feel the same way about me", Mark muttered.

"Marky, you don't know that!" Mimi added.

"Does she like me? Do you know something?" Mark gently interrogated, his voice perking up a great deal.

"No, I don't know anything, but if I find something out I'll let you know", Mimi promised.

"Thanks, Meems".

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Collins plopped down on a cold metal lunch table, which was placed under a tree and opened up his lunch. Soon after that, his friends: Mark, Angel, Joanne, Mark, Mimi, and Maureen, all took a seat as well.

"Where's Benny?" Joanne asked, noticing the absence of their friend.

"Oh, he's sitting with Alison today", Collins scoffed.

"Oh. So, Mimi, Maureen, do you find out the cast for the school play today?" Joanne inquired.

"Yeah, after lunch," Mimi provided, "I can't wait another forty-five minutes".

"Neither can I!" Maureen added, biting into her roast beef sandwich.

"Collins," Angel whined, "Can you help me? I don't get the geometry homework!"

"Sure, Ang, what's up?" Collins asked helpfully.

"I'm having issues with this proof", Angel explained.

"Oh, well I can help you with that", Collins began.

As Collins began to explain the geometric proof to Angel he felt a stirring in the pit of his stomach. As he talked to Angel and explained the homework to him, he began to sweat and when Angel touched him, it was as if a million volts of electricity were flowing through his body. He and Angel had been friends since fifth grade, but just now was he starting to feel this way around him. He wasn't gay, he just wasn't. But if he wasn't, then what was this feeling?

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Lunch finally ended and Mimi and Maureen bolted as quickly as they could to the theater to see the cast list. When they arrived, they found many other kids there, pushing and shoving to see what role they got. Once Mimi finally pushed her way to the list and looked at it, she was positive that despite the fact that her face was swollen from being hit by a soccer ball and she was stuck sitting by Roger Davis in history, this was the best day of her life. In bolded black print, across from the name Velma Kelly, read Mimi Marquez. She had done it. She got the part. She had actually done better than Maureen for once and she was on cloud nine. Her happiness came crashing down however, when she heard a voice talking to Maureen.

"Congratulations on getting the part of Matron Mama Morton, Mo! You totally should have gotten Velma, I mean, you're way better than Mimi. But oh well, you're totally gonna steal the show".

With that, Mimi felt as if she were going to cry. Maureen would always be better than her and Maureen would always get all of the credit. No matter how hard she tried.

**A/N: Whelp, that was chapter two! I hope you enjoyed it! Now, please review! It really means a lot to me! I'll have chapter three up as soon as possible! **


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hello luverly readers

**A/N: Hello luverly readers! The number of reviews I got majorly dropped from chapter 1 to chapter 2, so please review! Thank you FelineMimiDavis74 for reviewing both chapters! Anywho, here's chapter 3! Enjoy! And review even if you don't enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own RENT. Only in my dreams. **

"Uhmmm, Mark, I need to tell you something", Collins muttered to his friend as they sat in his room working on French homework.

"What's going on?" Mark asked, concern imbedded in his voice, for Collins had been acting strange and quiet lately. Maybe he'd finally find out why.

"Uhmmm…well…uhmmm…." Collins stuttered.

"Collins, just get it out already. Whatever it is I won't hate you. Unless you like murdered someone or something…wait…you didn't kill someone did you?" Mark nervously and curiously pondered.

"No!" Collins laughed.

"Good", Mark chuckled, "Anyway, what's up, man?"

"Well, you know Angel, right?" Collins mumbled nervously.

"Hmmm…you mean the Angel we've been friends with since 5th grade?" Mark sarcastically replied.

"Funny. Anyway, I-I-I-" Collins stumbled as he began sweating and his leg began shaking uncontrollably.

"Out with it already," Mark interrupted.

"I'm gay", Collins whispered so softly that Mark could barely hear him.

"Is that all?" Mark asked with relief.

"Is that all??" Collins gawked in disbelief.

"Sorry, it's just that wasn't that big of a deal and I was expecting you to say you shot a man in Reno", Mark explained.

"Very funny", Collins flatly stated.

"I know, I'm such a comedian", Mark retorted.

"So this doesn't affect our friendship?" Collins asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

"Of course not!" Mark exclaimed in response.

"Good", Collins sighed with relief.

"So you mentioned Angel earlier…do you like him or something?" Mark curiously inquired.

"Uhm…well…uhm…yeahIdobutyourealllycan'ttell anyonebecauseyou'retheonlypersonI'vetoldthewholegaythingto", Collins rambled.

"Huh?"

"Yes, I do like him, but you can't tell anyone because no one besides you even knows I'm gay yet, got it?" Collins questioned.

"Okay, I won't tell anyone", Mark reassured.

Collins then took the opportunity to change the subject

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Mimi sat in history feeling miserable. That kid's words were still ringing in her ears…

"_Congratulations on getting the part of Matron Mama Morton, Mo! You totally should have gotten Velma, I mean, you're way better than Mimi. But oh well, you're totally gonna steal the show"._

Ugh. She wished she'd never heard that. Yeah, she had the lead role that she wanted more than anything, but despite all that, Maureen still found a way to beat her, to do better than her, and it killed her. She and Maureen had been best friends since first grade they had so much fun together and Maureen was such a great friend, but she couldn't help but be jealous of her. Mimi felt guilty for that; Maureen was never jealous of her or anything, but she still couldn't help but be jealous. Maureen was prettier. Maureen was skinnier. Maureen was more popular. Maureen was a better performer. Maureen was smarter and got better grades. Maureen dressed better. Maureen got a ton of attention from guys and they hadn't so much as looked at her in that way. Mimi felt completely and utterly hopeless. She just wanted to melt into the floor. Just then, she saw a paper slide in front of her. It was her history test. She got a B. She looked up to see Maureen mouthing to her.

"What you get?", Maureen mouthed.

Mimi held up her paper.

"You?", Mimi mimed.

Maureen held up her paper to reveal that she had received an A-.

"Good job", Mimi indicated and she and Maureen went back to looking over their tests.

Ugh. She didn't want to be jealous, but she just couldn't help it. Even when she did do a good job on something or beat Maureen, like with the lead in the play, no one noticed. It was never, "Congratulations, Mimi", it was always "Wow, Maureen, that's amazing".

"Wow. Nice job".

Mimi looked up, assuming she was hearing things. She turned toward Roger.

"What? Were you talking to me?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, nice job", Roger replied, "Mrs. Fredericton's tests are hard. A C- is the best grade I've gotten on a test in her class all year. That's amazing congratulations".

"Thanks, Roger", Mimi beamed. That was probably the sweetest thing anything had ever said to her.

He looked her in the eye and smiled.

"You're welcome".

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April Ericsen sat flopped on her bed listening to a "Walk Like An Egyptian" while ditching school. It was the song that was playing when Roger asked her out. They were with a group of friends at a local restaurant and he whispered in her ear asking if she wanted to go out with just him sometime. That was at the beginning of freshman year, a little more than a year ago. They'd been together ever since. At the beginning of the relationship she and Roger had been so happy. Then the drugs came. She honestly believed that was what killed their relationship. She started smoking joints and got Roger to do it too and everything from there. She could tell he wasn't in love with her and she was beginning to doubt that he ever was, but she refused to say anything or break up with him. Her dad left her and her mom when she was five and her mom worked twelve hour shifts. They lived in a crappy run-down apartment and although April was considered one of the popular kids, she didn't really have any friends. Roger was the closest thing she had to a friend and she was afraid that if they broke up she'd lose him too. And then she'd be even more alone. And she just couldn't take that. She was so alone already.

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By sixth period, the only classes Mimi, Angel, and Maureen had left were not worth going to, so they decided they'd ditch. After all, Maureen had just gotten a green Volkswagen for her birthday, so the three headed to the mall.

As they browsed through Macy's, Mimi decided to see if she could find anything out for Mark.

"So, Mo, is anything going on between that guy you did scenes with in drama last week?" Mimi questioned.

"No, why do you assume that?" Maureen retorted.

"Oh, I was just curious. I mean, you usually are dating every night. What's up?" Mimi subtly interrogated.

"Nothing" Maureen vaguely answered.

Ugh. Maureen was so vague. She was just gonna dive right in and ask. "Do you like Mark?", Mimi asked.

Maureen visibly froze up. "Uh, no", Maureen muttered.

"Oh, I was just curious", Mimi explained. Honestly, Mimi wasn't buying in one bit. Maureen had completely frozen and turned bright red. There was no way she didn't like Mark. She smiled to herself. Now she just had to convince Mark to tell Maureen how he felt and everything would work out.

Meanwhile, Maureen was having a mental panic attack. What if Mimi knew she liked Mark? What if she told him and it ruined their friendship? Oh no. OH NO. What if Mimi liked Mark?? Oh, God, she couldn't. What if she did? What if she asked just to make sure that Maureen didn't like him? Oh no, oh no, oh no.

**A/N: Welll, that's chapter three. I'm going to New York on Tuesday (YAYYY!!) So this might be the last chapter I post before I go and I won't be back until May 5****th****, but I'll try to post one or maybe two more two chapters before I go. But, you have to review! Even if you hated it! Now push the pretty, shiny, purple button! **


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Hello, fabulous readers

**Author's Note: Hello, fabulous readers! Here's chapter four. I now have severe writer's block, so if you have any suggestions for the story, PM me and lemme know. I may or may not use them. Thank you to all of you who reviewed, especially ByTheBeautifulSea, FelineMimiDavis74, and Addicted412, who reviewed every chapter! I leave for New York City on Tuesday, so this'll be the last update before I go. I'll be back on May 5****th**** though. I have tickets to see Rent (!!) so I'm tres excited, but I'm going with my 74-year-old grandmother, so when Contact comes on that'll be um…interesting. Anyway, I'll stop rambling. Here's chapter 4! Review please! By the way, there's a flashback in this chappie and it's italicized.**

**Disclaimer: Do you seriously think I'm Jonathan Larson? If so, I'm concerned…**

Benny smiled as he stared at Alison Grey. It had been a month since he had been placed by her in American history, and during that time, they had become extremely…uhm…close. He sighed as he stared at her flowing blonde hair; he was the luckiest guy in the world. He felt a little guilty that he had pretty much shut out his friends, but for Alison, it was worth it. He really loved her. Well, at least he thought that this was what love was supposed to feel like.

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While Benny zoned out at Alison, Mimi and Roger were having a whispered conversation in the back of the room. Ever since that day when Roger had congratulated Mimi on her grade on the history test, they talked every day. Mimi tried so hard and was just average, whereas Maureen had perfect grades and put in absolutely no effort, and Mimi never got any credit. Roger congratulating her was perhaps the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to her. From that point on, they talked every day from topics ranging from Roger's relationship with April, to music, the school musical.

"So, you have rehearsal after school today?" Roger questioned with a smile.

"Yeah," Mimi replied, "We're running Maureen's solo, 'When You're Good to Mama', 'Class', 'My Sister and I', and 'The Cell Block Tango'".

"You're in some of those, right?" Roger asked.

"Yeah," Mimi answered.

"You know what? Do they let people who aren't in the play go to rehearsals?" Roger inquired.

"I'm not sure, why?" Mimi curiously retorted.

"I'd like to go to rehearsal sometime", Roger explained.

"What? Why?" Mimi replied, dumbfounded.

"I want to see you in action, Meems. You always talk about rehearsals and performing is important to you. I never go to any of the plays, 'cause if you haven't noticed, it's not really my thing, but to see you, I'd be glad to go", Roger elaborated.

"Well, you can come this afternoon. I'm sure no one will even notice", Mimi smiled, blushing.

"I'll see you after school then," Roger grinned as the bell signaling the end of first period ended.

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Angel sat in second period study hall purely bored. He heard the door click open and saw Collins standing before him. God, he was gorgeous. Angel silently sighed. He had been in love with Thomas Collins since the eighth grade. He was the person Angel came out to and he was so completely understanding. The two had been best friends since fifth grade. But of course, unluckily for Angel, Collins wasn't gay. Ugh. Angel would love him forever and he'd never know it.

"Hey, Collins", Angel casually greeted.

"Hey, Ang", Collins responded, sitting next to Angel, "I really need to talk to you and study hall isn't even a class, you wanna go out to my car?"

"Uh, sure", Angel replied, worry laced in his voice.

Once they took a seat in Collins's car, Collins turned toward Angel and took a deep breathe in, his heart beating faster than he thought possible.

"What's up?" Angel whispered, attempting to break the ice.

"Well, uh, well, uh," Collins stuttered.

"Listen, Collins, whatever it is sweetie, you can tell me. How long have we been friends? Do you really think I'd turn on you? Honey, nothing could make me hate you", Angel explained.

"That-that's not it," Collins mumbled, a blush creeping over his cheeks.

"Then what is it, sugar?" Angel sweetly questioned.

"I like you," Collins whispered, looking at the floor.

"I like you, too, we've been friends forever", Angel replied with a giggle.

"No, I mean, as more than a friend", Collins stumbled.

"Wh-what? B-But, you're not gay," Angel stuttered, utterly confused.

"Angel, I realized the other day that I like you. A lot. As way more than a friend, and that helped me to realize that I am gay. What I feel around you is something I've never felt before. It's too soon for me to say that it's love, but some day it may become that. I've never felt this way about a person before…"

At this point, Angel interrupted him by pressing his lips against his. Angel sighed mentally, and felt as if he were on a cloud. This was the most amazing feeling he'd ever experienced and he wanted it to last forever.

Little did each of them know, they were both thinking the same thing.

"This is perfect."

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"Roger, are you coming over to my house today? My cousin gave me some more joints the last time he visited," April explained, getting her books out of her locker after school.

"Uh, no," Roger explained, "I'm busy after school today, and I was thinking, I'm gonna stop that".

"Stop what?" April curiously asked.

"Uhm, smoking pot", Roger mumbled.

"Um, okay, it's your choice, baby. Why?" April questioned.

"No reason," Roger vaguely answered.

"_So you don't believe those stupid rumors about me, do you?" Roger asked Mimi. _

"_Uhmm…well, I did, but now that I'm getting to know you I'm having trouble believing them. They aren't true are they?" Mimi subtly interrogated._

"_No. Well, one of them is partly true. I mean, I'm not shooting up heroin, but I do um…I do smoke weed", Roger explained at a mumble._

"_Well, that's an improvement, but seriously, Rog, that's really bad for you. It fucks up your brain and you become addicted…it's just a bad idea, but whatever. I'm not your mother, you can make your own decisions, I just think it's a bad idea", Mimi sweetly preached._

"_I just want to escape sometimes", Roger told her._

"_I understand, sometimes I just want to escape from the world to. But, instead of just getting high to escape your problems, you should try actually dealing with them. Plus, my personal motto is no day but today. You should live each moment as your last, and do you really wanna live your last moments high? I know I wouldn't". _

_With that said, both returned to staring at the front of the classroom, Roger pondering Mimi's words._

"Okay, well, whatever, see you tomorrow", April stated, walking away.

A few minutes later, Mimi approached Roger.

"Hey, Meems," Roger casually stated.

"Hey", Mimi grinned, "You coming with me to rehearsal today?"

"Yeah. Oh, and April told me her cousin gave her some joints last time he visited and asked me if I wanted to come over and put them to good use. I told her no. I thought about what you said, Mimi, and you're right. I don't want to live my last moments on earth high", Roger mused.

Mimi smiled and hugged Roger.

"No day but today," she stated with a smile.

Roger laughed and the two headed to rehearsal.

NODAYBUTTODAYNODAYBUTTODAYNODAYBUTTODAY

Rehearsal was almost over, with only fifteen minutes left. As Mimi and Maureen finished rehearsing "Class", their duet, Mimi noticed a frown on the director, Mr. Stanton.

"Mimi, you're off key at the end", he barked once they finished the number, "Maureen is doing beautifully and we don't have the time to dwell on this number just because you're off-key. Go home and practice tonight".

"O-Okay," Mimi stumbled. She had spent the entire night before practicing that song, trying to get it down perfectly.

"Let's run 'My Sister and I' and see if you do better this time", Mr. Stanton hollered.

"Then she goes…", Mimi sang and began to do a tap dance.

"Stop! Stop! Stop! Mimi, you're steps are completely off! Have you ever taken a dance lesson?" Mr. Stanton yelled.

"Um, I've been dancing since I was three", Mimi stumbled in response.

"Well, I suggest you have Maureen help you. She's always on beat. Anyway, rehearsal's basically over. You can go home, and work on 'Class' for tomorrow", he barked as Mimi exited the building in tears. She collapsed in a tiny ball outside and began to sob. She worked so hard. She rehearsed that over and over until she thought she had it perfectly. She'd been dancing since she was three. She took tap, ballet, lyrical, hip-hop, and jazz. Maureen had never taken a dance class, she just did musicals and took voice lessons. She sobbed and sobbed. She would never get any credit for how hard she tried. Mimi heard steps approaching her and looked up, her face completely tear soaked, to see Roger approaching her. He sat down next to her and wrapped her in his embrace.

"He's an idiot. You were amazing, Meems. Way better than Maureen. Your voice was great, I got chills when you were singing, and your dancing was amazing," Roger admitted, hugging her, feeling a stirring in the pit of his stomach.

"Thanks," Mimi whimpered through her tears, her head buried in Roger's jacket.

"That's by far the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me", she confessed, looking up. He smiled at her and she felt what she swore was a volt of electricity shoot through her body.

**A/N: Well, I hope you liked it! Sorry, there was a lot of Roger/Mimi-ness and not a lot of the other characters. Anyway, please review! **


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Here's chapter five

**Author's Note: Here's chapter five! I hope you liked it! It's pretty short and not too action-packed, but the three chapters after this will be better. I would have updated sooner, but I've been drowned in makeup work since I missed a week of school. Anywho, I finally saw RENT on Broadway! And then proceeded to buy tickets to see it again two days later. ******** It was seriously the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Anyway, since there's a 99.9 chance that none of you care, on with the story! Also, thank you to all of my reviewers and collins'coat for pointing out that the song, "My Sister and I" that I mentioned it actually "I Can't Do It Alone", I knew that, but I spaced out, so yeah. Anyway, here's chapter 5.**

**Disclaimer: If you think I own RENT, I'm scared for you. **

Collins ran his fingers through Angel's short hair as he allowed his tongue to explore Angel's mouth. Angel sighed deeply and pressed his hand against his lover's chest, the two falling backwards onto Collins' bed. The two continued fervently kissing and with each moment, their lip lock grew more heated and passionate. Collins ran his fingers down Angel's chest and Angel felt a faint chill run through his body has he felt Collins' smooth hands slide down his chest toward his jeans. Collins began to unbuckle Angel's belt when Angel stopped him.

"I'm sorry, baby, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-", Collins began.

"No, sugar it's fine, trust me," Angel smirked, causing Collins to grin, "but, did you hear that? The door opened, I think your parents are home".

"Shit", Collins flatly responded, straightening up his bed and taking a seat on the bean bag chair flopped in the corner of his room. In the mean time, Angel buckled his belt and took a seat on Collins' bed, French homework in hand.

A few moments later, the bedroom door swung open to reveal Mrs. Collins standing before them.

"Hello, honey. Your father and I are home, but only for a few minutes. We're meeting the Davises for dinner. Hello Angel", Mrs. Collins greeted.

"Hello," Angel replied.

"Okay, mom sounds good. We don't need anything. Have fun", Collins stated with a smile.

"Okay, well, you boys enjoy your evening. We'll be home around 10", Mrs. Collins smiled as she exited.

"When are you going to tell your parents?" Angel asked.

"Soon", Collins vaguely responded.

"Baby, I'm not pressuring you, you can take all the time you want, but I'm just saying. You're parents love you. They're great people. They'll be fine with it. Hey, I mean, they know I'm gay and they don't hold it against me, so I don't think it will phase them in the least", Angel explained.

"How do you always know the perfect thing to say?" Collins questioned.

"Because I guess I'm just psychic", Angel giggled.

"Are you now?" Collins smiled.

"Yes, I am", Angel smirked.

"Hmm, so my parents are gone now. Where did we leave off?" Collins grinned with a gleam in his eye.

NODAYBUTTODAYNODAYBUTTODAYNODAYBUTTODAY

Roger found himself lying beneath April in her room as she planted kisses along his neck. The two had been playing tonsil hockey since Roger had gotten back from going to "Chicago" rehearsal with Mimi. You'd think Roger would have been perfectly happy, but that wasn't the case. He's tried to ignore it, but he couldn't. He was completely, utterly, hopelessly in love with Mimi Marquez. She was the most amazing person he had ever met. She was beautiful. Mimi had the most gorgeous eyes Roger had ever seen. They were big and brown and although they were laced with sadness, they always seemed to give him hope. Mimi was not to skinny and not too fat, and he personally found it refreshing; she simply looked healthy. Mimi was smart. Now, she may not have been a straight A student, but she was street smart, had relatively good grades, and he had learned more from her than he had from anyone throughout his life. Most importantly, he was in love with her. All his life, Roger had heard about how amazing love was and what it was like. He had never experienced that before; only having heard about it. Until now, that is. When he was around Mimi, he was floating. When she was around him, he felt a stirring in the pit of his stomach and when she touched him it felt as if there were fireworks exploding. He thought about her constantly, and when he wasn't awake to think about her, he dreamed about her. When he wasn't around her, he missed her, even if he had just seen her five minutes ago. Around April, he felt nothing. He was numb. Then it hit him. What was he doing? He was staying with a girl he didn't love for no reason and he was relatively sure she didn't love him either. Their entire relationship was based off of neither of them wanting to be alone.

"April, we need to talk," Roger interrupted, pulling his girlfriend off of him.

"What is it?" April questioned with concern.

"Do you love me?" Roger asked.

"Huh? What kind of question is that?" April interrogated, dumbfounded, "You're my boyfriend! Of course I love you, baby!"

"I mean like really love me, like in that sappy, cheesy romance novel sort of way", Roger elaborated.

"Baby, what is with you? Where is this coming from? First you stop smoking pot and now you're asking me if I love you? Seriously, Rog, what's going on with you?" April asked.

"Listen, April, I care about you a lot", Roger explained, "We've been going out for more than a year, but let's face it. We're not in love. I mean, love is supposed to be amazing and magical, and that's not us. I think the main reason we're staying together at this point is because neither of us want to be alone. I really think it's for the best if we end it".

April felt her eyes begin to water as she gave Roger a shaky reply.

"Y-You're right, Roger. W-We're not really in love, and I've been feeling the same way as you for a while now, b-but, you're my only friend, and if we break up, I won't have anyone. You know my mom's never home and no one else hangs out with me or-or even talks to me except you. You're my best friend and if we break up I'll be completely alone, and I don't think I can handle that".

Roger reached out and submerged April in his warm embrace as she began to cry.

"It's okay. Just because we break up it doesn't mean we can't continue to be friends. We've only been dating since ninth grade, but we've been friends since fifth grade. I'm not going to let our friendship be ruined just because we didn't work as a couple", Roger reassured.

"You're right," April agreed, "It's for the best. I mean, let's face it. We weren't in love. We can still stay friends and find someone who we're completely crazy about".

"Yeah," Roger smiled, thinking once again of Mimi, "so, you wanna head to the mall? We can get some frozen yogurt".

"Sounds good", April grinned, pecking Roger lightly on the cheek.

Roger felt as if a weight had lifted off his shoulders. April knew she and Roger's relationship wasn't really real and that they would still be friends, but she couldn't help the unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. He'd find a new girlfriend and she'd be completely forgotten about. Alone. And she didn't think she could handle that.

**A/N: Welll, that was chapter five. I know it was short and not that interesting, but it was necessary for the story. Next chappie will be more interesting. I promise. Now press the shiny purple button and review, review, review! ******


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Okay, peoples

**Author's Note: Okay, peoples. Here's chapter six; it should be more interesting than chapter five. Thank you to those of you who reviewed the last chapers! ******** Enjoy and review please!**

**Disclaimer: Do you really think I'm Jonathan Larson?**

Mimi, Maureen, Joanne, Angel, Collins, and Mark sat comfortably at their lunch table when they saw Roger approaching their table.

"Hey, Roger", Mimi smiled; standing and hugging him once he reached their lunch table.

"Hey, Meems", he grinned, a blush creeping over his cheeks.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Do you mind if I sit with you guys?" Roger hopefully questioned.

"No, of course not. Why aren't you sitting with April?" Mimi inquired.

"Oh, uhm, we, uh, we broke up last night", Roger mumbled.

"Oh. Wh-Why?" Mimi interrogated, trying her absolute hardest not to smile.

"It just wasn't right," Roger explained, "We didn't love each other and we both realized there was no point in hanging on".

"I see," Mimi stated, using all of her willpower to refrain from jumping up and down ecstatically.

"So, are you guys going to winter formal?" Collins asked the group as Roger took a seat next to Mimi.

"No", Joanne flatly stated, staring at her soup.

"Four guys have asked me, but I rejected them all", Maureen giggled.

"Nope, no one's asked me", Mimi explained.

"Well, there's someone I'm thinking of asking", Mark mumbled so quietly that practically no one heard him.

"Are you and Angel going?" Joanne asked.

"Whoa. You and Angel?" Roger asked Collins in disbelief, "Dude, I didn't know that you were gay or that you and Angel were together".

"Don't tell anyone, okay?" Angel pleaded, "Joanne, Mo, Meems, and Mark are the only ones who know, so please don't tell anyone".

"Of course not", Roger promised.

"Anyway, no sugar, we're staying in," Angel giggled, throwing Collins a wink, causing him to blush violently.

"Meems, do you mind if I talk to you for a sec?" Maureen asked, putting down her chicken salad.

"Sure," Mimi responded as Maureen pulled her away from their group of friends.

"What's going on, Mo?" Mimi questioned.

"Okay, I just have to ask you straight out…do you like Mark?" Maureen interrogated.

"What? Ew, no! Mark's just so…Mark", Mimi laughed.

Maureen exhaled sharply, feeling as if a huge weight was being lifted off of her shoulders.

"Wait, do you like Mark?" Mimi questioned, knowing the answer perfectly well.

"Okayyeahbutyouseriouslycan'ttellanyoneokay?" Maureen mumbled in response.

"Whoa, I didn't catch that," Mimi giggled.

"Yes, I like Mark, okay? But you can't tell anyone, alright? God, I hope he asks me to formal. Do you think I was the person he's thinking about taking to formal?" Maureen pondered, flushing a rouge color.

"Ohmigod, is Maureen Johnson…nervous about a guy? I never thought I'd see the day!" Mimi joked, resulting in Maureen hitting her with her purse, "Of course he'll ask you to formal!"

NODAYBUTTODAYNODAYBUTTODAYNODAYBUTTODAY

Alison Grey spent her lunch period in the girl's bathroom that day. She and Benny had been together since October and it was now December. She loved him, no doubt about it; however, she wasn't positive how he felt about her. He told her he loved her, but she found herself doubting him. What if he didn't love her? She was afraid he'd been catching onto her lately. He kept asking her what was wrong and she would continually smile, say she was fine, and then give him a peck on the cheek. However, the truth was, Alison was far from fine. She was completely lost and didn't know what to do. Then again, she didn't even know if she had to worry about this right now. She reached into her pink purse, pulled out a small box and opened it. She took a deep breathe and sighed. It was time to find out if she was pregnant.

NODAYBUTTODAYNODAYBUTTODAYNODAYBUTTODAY

The next day, Mimi sat in history looking at Roger. He had forgotten to do his English homework and was now working frantically at it. Ever since the first day Roger came to rehearsal with her, he came to every rehearsal with her. Every time, after she and Roger left, he would compliment her and tell her that she did an amazing job. As much as Mimi hated to admit it, she liked him. A lot. And certainly as way more than a friend. And it was beyond frustrating. He's never like her back. He was sweet and gorgeous and perfect and deserved so much better. But he did break up with April…maybe he did feel the same way about her. At that time, Mimi was interrupted by Roger poking her with his pencil.

"Mimi," Roger whispered.

"Mmmhhmmm," she muttered in response, "What is it?"

Roger looked her in the eyes and she began to immerse herself in his gorgeous eyes. His face was moving closer and closer to hers and she could feel her heartbeat quickening.

When his face was approximately two inches from hers and she could feel his warm, minty-smelling breath against her face, he looked into her brown eyes and said, "What's a…pronoun?"

NODAYBUTTODAYNODAYBUTTODAYNODAYBUTTODAY

Mark and Maureen stood in drama, working on a scene together from "A Streetcar Named Desire".

"Uhm, Mo, do you mind if I talk to you for a second?" Mark mumbled.

"Hellooo, Marky, you're already talking to me!" Maureen giggled.

"No, I mean, about something important," Mark elaborated.

"Sure," Maureen answered.

"Well, I've been meaning to ask you. Well, we're sophomores now, which means we can go to the winter formal", Mark nervously stated, "And I know you probably already have a date to it since you're beautiful, and funny, and smart, I mean, who wouldn't want to take you to formal? But if you don't have a date yet, I was- I was w-wondering if y-you m-might want to go with me".

Maureen began to smile from ear to ear.

"Sure, Marky," Maureen replied, hugging him as Mark felt a blush creep over his cheeks, "Be right back, I have to go to the bathroom".

Maureen walked up to Mimi and poked her, motioning toward the bathroom. Maureen waited outside for Mimi to exit drama. The second Mimi emerged from the classroom, Maureen pulled her with all of the force she could toward the bathroom and slammed the door. Immediately, she began squealing, screeching, and jumping up and down like an over-caffeinated teenage girl.

"Mo, what's up?" Mimi asked.

"Mark asked me to formal!" Maureen screeched.

"Ohmigod!" Mimi squealed, hugging her friend, "When?"

"Like, two minutes ago," Maureen informed her, telling her the entire story.

"Ohmigod! Ohmigod! Ohmigod!" Mimi screamed as the two began giddily jumping up and down and screeching.

Maureen was beaming. She was going to formal with Mark. This was the greatest day of her life. Little did she know, Mark was thinking the same thing.

**A/N: Yes, I am aware of how completely clichéd formals and proms and dances are in RENT high school fics, but oh well. Too bad. I have way too many ideas of things that can happen at formal. Also, I know that formals are typically in January, but I'm making this in mid-December, so I can still have holiday drama! Yay! ******** Anywho, review please! **


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Wellll, here's chapter 7

**Author's Note: Wellll, here's chapter 7! Thank you to those of you who read and reviewed! Especially FelineMimiDavis74, Addicted412, and thxramonesxownwmyxsoul12 who have reviewed every chapter. It really means a lot. Anywho, enjoy! ******

**Disclaimer: If I owned RENT I'd be hanging out with Wilson and Adam right now, sadly, that's not the case ******

Mimi and Angel sat in Denny's Diner that Saturday picking at huevos rancheros.

"So, sugar, how are Chicago rehearsals going?" Angel kindly asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Fine", Mimi replied flatly, stabbing her breakfast with her fork.

"Fine? Honey, it's not fine. I can tell. Now elaborate," Angel pleaded.

"Fine. It blows," Mimi lamented, "The director hates me. I don't even know why he cast me. Everything I do, he says is wrong and that Maureen is doing it perfectly and I should get help from her and blah, blah, blah. It's like Maureen planned this whole thing. She loves the spotlight and she loves having me live in her shadow even more. Ever since we first became friends in the first grade it's always been Maureen over me. Maureen's prettier, smarter, more talented, more well-liked, and what am I? I'm her freaking sidekick who's not as good as Maureen. Don't get me wrong, I love Mo, she's one of my best friends and we have so much fun together, but I'm so sick of this. I mean, Maureen is better than me at everything, even dance, which I've been taking forever. We were both competing for this role and I got it, so I thought it'd finally be my chance to show that I can perform too rather than everyone talk about how wonderful Maureen is. But whatever. Apparently, that's never going to happen and I'll forever be stuck in her freaking shadow. With my luck Roger's gonna fall for her next".

"Meems, I get how you feel, but just one thing. I don't even think Maureen is conscious of this rivalry between the two of you that you've built up so much in your head. I honestly don't think she feels as if she's in competition with you. You need to cut her some slack; you're her best friend…she means well. I understand how frustrating this whole situation is, but it's not Maureen's fault. I really don't think she thinks of you guys as being in competition", Angel explained.

"You know what Angel? You're right. It's now a competition. Maureen already won", Mimi dryly stated as she threw ten dollars on the table to cover her meal and exited the diner, leopard print coat in hand.

NODAYBUTTODAYNODAYBUTTODAYNODAYBUTTODAY

It was Monday after school, two days since Mimi and Angel had their discussion at the Denny's. Mimi apologized to Angel for leaving and getting worked up, and he apologized, saying that he hoped he didn't upset her. However, ever since Saturday, Mimi couldn't get what Angel had said out of her head and it was killing her. What if this whole rivalry with Maureen was just something she built up in her head? Her conscience was eating away at her. She felt like a horrible person for ever being jealous of one of her best friends, but she couldn't really help it. Mimi, however, made a promise to herself, that she'd try to forget about being better than Maureen and just go through rehearsal trying her absolute best.

"Okay, we're gonna run 'Class' one more time before we move on to 'Mr. Cellophane', and Mimi, try not to suck this time", Mr. Stanton shouted as Mimi miserably took her place on the stage and tried her absolute hardest not to cry. She looked toward the back of the stage where Roger sat and he gave her a smile, as if he meant to say 'Don't worry about him, you're doing great'. She smiled for a brief moment before being brought back to reality.

"Okay, from the top", Mr. Stanton hollered.

About halfway through the number, Mr. Stanton stopped them.

"Stop, stop, stop! Mimi, we run this practically every rehearsal and for heavens sake, you're off key! Do something about it! Maureen sounds perfect and you're way off. You're holding back the potential of this number. It could be great, but you're not strong enough. Also, during "Cell Block Tango" I don't like the way you're delivering your monologue. You need to be more vicious, and don't even get me started on your counting on you dances during 'I Can't Do It Alone'. In short, practice can help someone to become good, but it takes natural talent and ability to become great and I don't think you have that Mimi, but for now, we can't worry about you're lack of talent. Let's just run 'Class' one more time from the top, now positions!" Mr. Stanton commanded.

"No", Mimi flatly stated.

"Excuse me?" he retorted.

"I said no. Listen, you cast me in this freaking role and if you don't like the way I perform then why the fuck did you give it to me? Hmmm? If Maureen's so wonderful and talented and her dancing's phenomenal and she's always on-key and her acting's spot on, then why didn't she get the fucking role? Hmmm? You know what. You are a low life asshole. Screw you and screw this school. I'm leaving. That's right. I quit this damn play. Go build a fucking shrine to Maureen for all I care. Because, you know what? I don't care what you think. Quite frankly, you're not worth my time. Go fuck yourself", Mimi exploded as she exited the building, leaving Maureen, Mr. Stanton, and the rest of the performers in disbelief.

Once Mimi had exited Scarsdale High School's theater, she sighed. Telling people off felt damn good.

"Meems?" Roger murmured, exiting the building, immediately embracing her, a stirring in the pit of his stomach beginning to arise as soon as his skin touched hers, "That was amazing. You're so underappreciated at this school. I mean, Maureen's great but you have triple the amount of talent as her and these idiots are too fucking blinded to see that. You're better than this. One day, you're gonna do amazing things and Mr. Stanton is gong regret that he ever underestimated you".

"Thanks, Roger," Mimi smiled.

"And don't you ever feel like you're second best to Maureen", Roger added, "Maureen's great, but you're amazing. If it weren't for you I'd still be smoking joints, and stuck in an unhappy relationship with April based completely off of loneliness. So listen to me, don't let anyone tell you that you aren't good enough, Mimi, because you're more than good enough".

"Thanks", Mimi beamed, hugging Roger once more, feeling her face flush.

"So, what are you doing next Saturday night?" Roger asked, his heartbeat quickening as he tripped over the words.

"Uhm, well, it's formal, so-" Mimi began.

"Y-You're going to formal. With a date. Right. I should have known you'd have a date", Roger interrupted nervously, feeling his heart sink.

"No! I don't have a date. I was going to say that it's formal and I don't have a date, so I'll probably stay home", Mimi explained.

"Oh," Roger replied, his cheeks red with embarrassment, "well, I was wondering if you wanted to go to formal with me. A-As friends of course".

"Sure," Mimi answered, hugging Roger. She was going to formal with Roger! So what if it was as friends…at least she was going with him.

"So, you wanna come over and work on the geometry homework?" Roger asked.

"Sounds good", Mimi grinned.

"Cool, I'll drive", Roger offered as the two headed toward Roger's car, his arm around her.

NODAYBUTTODAYNODAYBUTTODAYNODAYBUTTODAY

"I'm seriously worried about her, Jo", Maureen worried, "I mean, she completely exploded at Mr. Stanton and told him he could go fuck himself and yelled about how he could build a shrine to me if he wanted to and all this stuff, what if she has some deep-rooted hatred toward me? I've always known that she feels like anything she can do I can do better, but we've always continued to be friends and never talked or worried about it. I didn't know she was so broken up about it. I mean, she acted normally at school today, but I feel like she'd hiding something from me. I knew Mr. Stanton was being an ass, but I didn't know she was letting it get to her so much. Who knows what else she's not telling me?" Maureen pondered as her and Joanne wandered through the dress section of Macy's, trying to find a formal dress for Maureen considering it was Tuesday and formal was already on Saturday.

"I don't think Mimi hates you Mo, I mean, how long have you guys been friends? Since first grade? She doesn't hate you. Jealousy and hatred are two completely different things, and no offence, but I see where she's coming from. Mimi tries really hard at everything. I mean, she takes 5 different types of dance every day of the week except Saturdays, and then on Saturday she takes an acting class. Then she gets home and stays up practically all night doing homework and studying and it's even worse when she's in a play or musical too. You, on the other hand, are in musicals and take voice once a week, and don't study and all and everyone seems to give you all of the attention. I mean, she must want someone to recognize how hard she tries. Someone to think she's talented", Joanne explained.

"Ugh. You're right. You know what though? I'm going to formal with Mark Saturday, which is going to be the greatest night of my life, now I'm gonna forget about Mimi and find a dress", Maureen declared.

"Sounds good," Joanne agreed.

"So, why aren't you going to formal?" Maureen questioned.

"Just not interested", Joanne vaguely replied.

"But didn't that REALLY HOT guy in your French class ask you?" Maureen interrogated.

"Yeah, but, I just, uhm, didn't wanna go with him", Joanne muttered; however, luckily for her, Maureen quickly changed the subject.

"o0o0o! What do you think of this dress?" Maureen squealed, holding up a purple dress that cut off right above her knees. It was plum colored and silk, and folded under at the bottom. The top was spaghetti strapped and had a silver brooch attached to it. Maureen had found her formal dress.

**A/N: Wellll, there's chapter seven. I hope you liked it! Review please! ******


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: Sorry, I know I haven't updated in like, a week

**Author's Note: Sorry, I know I haven't updated in like, a week. I had to write a really miserable paper about global warming and give a speech and a ton of other crap, plus I have a social life, so yeah. Oh, and I had writer's block. Lucky me. Anyway, here's chapter eight. Thank you to ByTheBeautifulSea, Addicted 412, FelineMimiDavis74, and thexramonesxownwmyxsoul12 for reviewing every chapter. You guys are awesome. ******** Also, you know what makes me update REALLY quickly? Reviews. Ponder that while you read.**

**Disclaimer: The fabulous Jonathan Larson owns all.**

"So, what about THIS dress?" Mimi asked as she exited the dressing room.

"Eh, no sugar, green doesn't go well with your complexion", Angel replied.

"Aggghhh, Angel! You've said something similar about every dress!" Mimi whined.

"Hey, you wanted my opinion", Angel reminded.

"Yeah, yeah, I know", Mimi mumbled. They were in a local vintage store looking at formal dresses. Mimi's family was short on money, so they couldn't afford to buy her an expensive dress.

"Try on the red one!" Angel suggested.

"Eh. Ang, this is hopeless. We've been shopping for 3 hours. We've been to three vintage stores and tried on everything in the store. We're not getting anywhere. Did you see Maureen's dress? It's purple and silk and it's so amazing…I wish I had-" Mimi pondered.

"Stop," Angel cut off, "Remember? We agreed that you weren't going talk about Maureen or being jealous of her for the whole day",

"Sorry, you're right," Mimi groaned, reentering the dressing room to try on yet another outfit.

"Sooo, what are you and Collins doing instead of going to formal?" Mimi asked.

"His parents are out of town, so going over to his house if you catch my drift", Angel grinned.

"Ohmigod, chico, are you saying what I think you're saying?" Mimi asked.

"Depends, what do you think I'm saying", Angel responded.

"Are you guys going to do…IT?" Mimi squealed.

"We might," Angel answered.

"Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod," Mimi squealed, coming out of the dressing room in a black dress.

"No, sorry honey, the cut on the dress isn't flattering to your legs at all", Angel stated flatly.

"Aggghhh, I'm trying on the red one and then I'm calling Roger and telling him we're not going to formal, or going somewhere else", Mimi groaned.

"So what's with this 'going as friends' business?" Angel inquired.

"It means that we're going as friends", Mimi replied.

"Why would he even say that though? It's completely obvious he likes you, sugar. And it's not like he needs to hide it. I mean, he and April broke up", Angel monologued.

"We don't know he likes me, Ang. For all we know, he could be madly in love with Maureen and hanging out with me to get to her", Mimi grumbled.

"Meems!" Angel reminded.

"Sorry, dropping it", Mimi rapidly hollered, exiting the dressing room in a blue dress.

"Sweetie, you look amazing" Angel squealed, "That dress is perfect!" The dress was a silk, strapless, red gown that cut right above Mimi's knee. It had a layer of tulle from the bottom of the bust to the end of the dress and it looked absolutely amazing on Mimi.

"You think so? I love it, personally" Mimi grinned.

"We MUST buy it" Angel insisted.

NODAYBUTTODAYNODAYBUTTODAYNODAYBUTTODAY

"Maureen, I need to talk to you", Mr. Stanton stated at the end of Chicago rehearsal that Friday, the day before formal.

"Sure, what is it?" Maureen asked.

"So, Mimi quit the production which means we don't have anyone to play Velma, and I know you originally auditioned for the part. We're only about 3 weeks into rehearsals and the production is not for a while. So, I was wondering if you wanted to take over the role of Velma", Mr. Stanton explained.

Shit. Maureen had no fucking clue what to do. She wanted that role really badly and now she had a chance to take it. Mimi was her best friend and quit the production and now she was gonna take her role? That was pretty low. But then again, Mimi DID quit…Mr. Stanton wasn't being that mean to her…he was just telling it like it was and Mimi couldn't handle it. Yeah, anything Mimi could do she could do better and Maureen knew she was supposed to have a little sympathy for Mimi because of that, but as much as she hated to admit it, she liked it. She loved reveling in the fact that Mimi would never be as good as her. Maureen knew it was a rotten thing to do, but oh well. She couldn't help but love the fact that Mimi lived in her shadow.

"Great, I'll take the role", Maureen smirked.

NODAYBUTTODAYNODAYBUTTODAYNODAYBUTTODAY

April looked at herself in her mirror. It was Saturday and formal started in an hour. She wore a green halter dress that cut her right below her knees. She looked absolutely amazing and it accented her red hair perfectly. April sighed. It was all for nothing though. She didn't even have a date. She'd most likely spend the entire formal sitting completely alone eating and watching everyone else dance and have fun. April felt tears start to form in her eyes. She was completely and utterly alone.

**A/N: Yeah, this was a short chapter. I know. Thank you, Sherlock. The next chappie's gonna be formal. If you wanna know what happens at formal, then I suggest reviewing. It makes me update faster. Please and thank you ******


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: Here's chapter nine, which is formal

**Author's Note: Here's chapter nine, which is formal. I now have writer's block, so if you have any suggestions, let me know and I may or may not use them. ******** Thank you to all of my luverly reviewers. ******** Also, I noticed in the previous chapter I made a mistake, I said that Mimi's dress was blue and then I said it was red. It's red and if you want to see a picture of it, as well as a picture of April's dress, there's a link in my profile. I couldn't find a picture of Maureen's so I'm sorry. Anyway, on with the story. Please review! ******

**Disclaimer: If I owned RENT, do you seriously think I'd be writing fanfics about it? Yeah, I thought not. Also, I don't own "Gilligan's Island".**

Mimi was fixing her long, dark, curly hair one final time when she heard a knock on the door. She looked at herself in the mirror one final time before answering it. She had the top of her hair clipped back with her bangs still free, while her long locks flowed to the middle of her back. Her red strapless dress cut her perfectly and looked amazing with her complexion. She smiled into the mirror and waltzed to the door, swinging it open to reveal Roger standing before her in a black suit, sans tie. God, he was so gorgeous. She was the luckiest girl on the planet.

"Hey," she smiled, engulfing Roger in a hug.

"Hey Meems, you look amazing," he smiled, allowing his eyes to skim over her. God, she really did look amazing. He smiled to himself. This was the greatest night of his life. He was the luckiest guy in the world.

"Thanks", she smiled nervously.

"So, you ready to go?" Roger asked.

"You know it!" Mimi smirked.

"Okay, sweet, let's get going", Roger replied.

"Mom! We're leaving!" Mimi hollered.

"Have fun!" Mrs. Marquez yelled back.

"Do you have a curfew?" Roger questioned as they headed toward his black convertible.

"Yeah, I have to be back by 2 AM", Mimi explained.

"Damn, your parents are cool," Roger commented.

"Yeah, I love my family, they're awesome", Mimi grinned, climbing into Roger's car. This was going to be the most amazing night of her life.

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Maureen sat in the driver's seat of her lime green Volkswagen, wearing her purple dress with her shoulder length brown curls clipped back on one side with a silver hair clip. Damn, her feet hurt. She was not planning on driving in her silver stilettos, but Mrs. Cohen didn't trust Mark to drive.

Mark sat in the passenger seat of Maureen's car, bright red. How humiliating. He couldn't believe his mother wouldn't let him drive. He had his license. God, she was so overprotective. This was so fucking embarrassing. Maureen, whom he had been in love with as long as he could remember, was finally going to formal with him and she had to drive because his mommy wouldn't let him. Her feet were probably dying. She probably hated him. He turned his head and allowed his eyes to skim over. My God, she looked amazing. He was completely and totally in love with Maureen Johnson.

"I'm so sorry", Mark muttered for what seemed like the millionth time that night.

"Marky, it's fine. My heels are a little sore, but it's fine", Maureen sweetly replied.

"I'm so sorry. I mean, you go with me to formal when I'm sure you got a bunch of better offers from guys who look like Marky Mark, that underwear model, and you chose to go with me out of what I'm assuming is charity and now my mommy won't let me drive, so your feet are probably ready to fall off and you can't take of your shoes 'cause you told me they're a size too small and it took you forever to get them on and you probably feel like you're babysitting and I'm so sorry", Mark rambled.

"Mark," Maureen interjected, "Calm down. I'm not going to formal with you out of charity or because we've been friends forever or anything. I really do like you. A lot".

"Wh-What?" Mark stuttered.

"I like you. A lot", Maureen admitted.

"I love you", Mark muttered bravely, "I have been in love with you for as long as I can remember and I'll love you 'til the day I die".

At the time, Mark and Maureen were driving through downtown Scarsdale, and Maureen immediately pulled over in front of a local shop as soon as Mark finished his confession.

"M-Mo? Wh-What are you-" Mark stuttered nervously, but was cut off by the feeling of Maureen's lips upon his.

GIVEINTOLOVEORLIVEINFEARGIVEINTOLOVEORLIVEINFEAR

April sat alone at a table, stirring her diet Coke miserably. No one had talked to her the entire night. Not a 'Hey, April' or a 'Hey, you, move' or a 'Nice dress' or anything. She stepped on someone's foot while getting a drink and apologized to whoever it was. They didn't so much as look at her. She felt completely alone and miserable. April looked onto the dance floor to see Roger and Mimi dancing. She was glad that Roger had found someone, she really was, but she wished she had too. April then began to ponder what life would have been like, had she never been born. Everyone would have been better off. Her dad only left her mom because he hated children. Had her mother not gotten pregnant with her, her parents would be happily united. Roger would have never even tried smoking marijuana or had to deal with untrue rumors being starting about him. If she didn't exist, everyone would be better off. April then realized that she didn't want to live anymore. She looked around the room one final time before rising and exiting. She was doing the world a favor.

GIVEINTOLOVEORLIVEINFEARGIVEINTOLOVEORLIVEINFEAR

Mark and Maureen entered formal hand-in-hand, with huge smiles on their faces. Maureen looked around desperately for Mimi. She had Mark kissed! Finally! She HAD to fill Mimi in.

"I'm gonna go get something to drink and look for Mimi, Pookie", Maureen giggled, kissing Mark on the cheek before waltzing over to get a 7-UP.

Meanwhile, Mimi and Roger sat down, picking at their food, deep in conversation when Mimi saw Maureen walking to get a drink.

"Oh, Rog, I'll be right back. Maureen just got here, I wanna say 'hi' and see if she and Mark are having fun", Mimi smiled.

"Okay, I'll be here," Roger grinned.

Mimi waltzed up to Maureen and gave her a hug.

"Chica, you look amazing! I love dress!" Mimi squealed.

"Thanks, Meems! Yours is awesome too!", Maureen smiled, "Ohmigod, I have to fill you in on what happened with Mark".

"What happened?" Mimi inquired, a great deal of curiosity laced in her voice.

"So, we're driving to formal and he's apologizing for me having to drive for like, the bazillionth time", Maureen explained.

"Wait, why'd you have to drive?" Mimi interrupted.

"His mom wouldn't let him", Maureen clarified.

"Poor Marky", Mimi giggled.

"I know", Maureen agreed, "Anyway, he started rambling about how sorry he was and how I must think he's some kind of charity case and I cut him off and explained to him that I like him a lot, and he said he loved me. And then I pulled over and kissed him and then we kissed for like, twenty minutes".

"Are you serious?" Mimi giddily screeched.

"Dead serious", Maureen promised, "This is the greatest night of my life. And I bet Mark's night isn't going to badly either. He finally got kissed and he's what, sixteen? That's just sad. In a cute way".

"Yeah," Mimi agreed, keeping to herself that although she was sixteen, she'd never been kissed either.

"Hey, Maureen, hey Mimi", someone stated. Mimi and Maureen turned around to see Charity, the girl who was playing Roxie in 'Chicago', standing before them.

"Hey," the two friends smiled in unison.

"Congrats on getting the role of Velma, Mo", Charity congratulated.

"Oh, uhm, er, uhh, thanks", Maureen stuttered, looking at the floor.

"I'm gonna go dance, I'll see you guys later", Charity shouted above the loud music, heading toward the dance floor.

"What was she talking about?" Mimi interrogated.

"Well, uh, um, er, since you quit the production, Mr. Stanton, um, Mr. Stanton offered, uhm, he offered your role to me, and I, um, accepted it", Maureen mumbled with her eyes fixed on the floor.

"What? Why didn't you tell me?" Mimi questioned further.

"Well, uh-", Maureen began.

"What, Mo? What? What's your excuse? Hmmm? Mr. Stanton was a complete ass to me so I quit the production and the second I do you take over my role? What the fuck, Maureen? You're supposed to be my best friend", Mimi yelled.

"Well, it's not my fault you can't handle constructive criticism", Maureen shot back.

"Constructive criticism? Mo, that was far from constructive criticism! Everything I did he would badger me on! Even if I was trying my absolute best!" Mimi hollered, "I can't believe you!"

"Whatever, it's not important, it's a stupid production, Meems, let's just forget about it", Maureen suggested softly.

"You know what? No! I'm not gonna forget about it! We've been best friends since first grade and you stabbed me in the back! You know I'm jealous of you, that I've always lived in your shadow and you love it. You fucking love every minute of it! I finally got an opportunity to get recognition for how hard I try and it was still 'Maureen this' and 'Maureen that' and I got criticized every fucking rehearsal because I didn't live up to the great Maureen Johnson! Then when I decided it wasn't worth my time and quit, you jumped on the chance to take that role", Mimi lamented.

"Mimi, I was offered the role and took it. I didn't mean anything toward you, and how was I supposed to know you were jealous of me?" Maureen began.

"Shut up. Just shut the fuck up Maureen. I don't want to hear it. You damn well know I've always lived in your shadow and you love it. You know what? As of now, our friendship is over", Mimi growled as she walked back and sat next to Roger, the majority of the eyes in the room on her.

"Are you okay?" Roger asked, concern laced in his voice.

"Fine. Just peachy," Mimi replied.

"I'm so sorry, Meems, that wasn't fair", Roger comforted.

"Yeah, you're telling me. You know what? This night's amazing and I'm not going to let Maureen ruin it for me. She's not worth my time. Let's dance", Mimi suggested, pulling Roger up and pulling him on the dance floor as a slow song began to play.

GIVEINTOLOVEORLIVEINFEARGIVEINTOLOVEORLIVEINFEAR

Alison and Benny stood on the dance floor, their arms around each other, swaying to the tune of a slow song. Benny smiled as he looked at Alison. She looked beautiful. Her yellow halter dress brought out her green eyes perfectly and her flowing, wavy blonde hair looked stunning.

"B-Baby?" Alison mumbled into her boyfriend's chest, "I-I need to talk to you".

"What is it?" Benny questioned. He had been very concerned about Alison lately. She'd been acting extremely strange.

"S-So, I-I was l-late for my period, s-so, I-I t-took a pregnancy t-test and it turns out I'm p-pregnant. I mean, the test could always be wrong, so I'm gonna get a blood test at the doctor on Tuesday, but I'm pretty sure," Alison explained, her head buried in Benny's chest, for she did not want to look up and see his facial expression at the moment.

Benny felt his heart stop the second he heard the word 'pregnant'.

"I-I have to go", Benny muttered, exiting the building, leaving Alison in tears.

GIVEINTOLOVEORLIVEINFEARGIVEINTOLOVEORLIVEINFEAR

Angel sat cuddled into Collins on the couch watching re-runs of Gilligan's Island.

"Ang, why do you watch this show? It got canceled like, 20 years ago", Collins asked.

"It's good!" Angel defended.

"If you say so", Collins sarcastically muttered, resulting in Angel whacking his arm.

"Fine, after this episode we'll do something else", Angel promised.

"Like…?" Collins asked.

"Mmmm, like this," Angel elaborated, pressing his lips against Collins'.

"In that case, 'Gilligan's Island' is the greatest show ever," Collins chuckled.

"That's what I thought you said", Angel purred as his boyfriend kissed him once more. After a few minutes, their lip lock grew more passionate and heated. Collins' hands ran up Angel's shirt as he removed it, and Angel did the same. Collins then began to plant kisses along Angel's chest until he reached his sparkly, rhinestone-studded jeans. **(A/N: For those of you who have seen the Broadway version, you know what I'm talking about) **Angel sighed as Collins proceeded to remove them.

GIVEINTOLOVEORLIVEINFEARGIVEINTOLOVEORLIVEINFEAR

April sat alone in her room; her mother was still working. She was still wearing her green formal dress and her hair and makeup was still done. She was holding a shotgun in her lap and was pondering whether or not to do it. Yes, she'd be doing the world a favor if she just killed herself, but she didn't think she could go through with it. April couldn't even watch horror movies without feeling nauseous and everything in those was fake. How could she actually hold a gun up to her head and shoot herself? Oh well. April was going to go through with it. No one would most likely even notice if she wasn't around. She held the gun up to her head and took a deep breathe.

GIVEINTOLOVEORLIVEINFEARGIVEINTOLOVEORLIVEINFEAR

"So, I had fun tonight", Roger stated, smiling at Mimi as they stood on her doorstep.

"So did I", she grinned, "Sorry about wigging out about the Maureen thing".

"It's totally okay. You should have freaked out. And you didn't let it get to you or ruin your night so power to you", Roger stated.

"Thanks," Mimi giggled with a smile.

"So…" Roger mumbled.

"So…?" Mimi replied. She looked up to see Roger moving his face closer and closer to hers. She felt her heartbeat quicken and began to feel his breathe against hers, which sent chills throughout her body. Roger felt as if he were on fire; his head was spinning and he felt like volts of electricity were shooting through him.

"Wait Roger," Mimi interrupted, causing Roger to turn red with embarrassment.

"God, Meems, I'm so sorry, I just-", Roger began, but was cut off.

"What's a pronoun?" Mimi giggled.

Roger laughed and pulled her in close. Finally his lips pressed against hers and both of them could have sworn there were fireworks.

**A/N: Well, there was the freakishly long chapter nine. Review please and if you have any suggestions, let me know please. ******


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Sorry I haven't updated in so long

**Author's Note: Sorry I haven't updated in so long. My computer got a virus and crashed, and then it got fixed, but then I had a ton of play rehearsals and then finals (GAHHH stabs history book), not to mention that evil, horrible thing called writer's block. I actually should be studying for my physics final right now, but too bad. Anyway, here's chapter 10. Thank you to all of you who reviewed the last chapter! ******** Now, on with the story and remember that reviews make me update faster ******

**Disclaimer: If I owned RENT. I'd be hanging out with Adam and Wilson right now. Sadly, I'm instead sitting in my messy room staring out my window at the rain. ******

Wow. That was the only word that could process in both Mimi and Roger's heads as they both stood on Mimi's porch, having just finished experiencing the feeling of having one another's lips upon each other. Roger grinned to himself. That was the most amazing kiss he'd ever experienced. Much more passionate and amazing than anything he had ever experienced. Mimi smiled to herself and was forced to use all of her willpower to not to kiss him full on the lips again. She could not have imagined a better first kiss or a better person to have it with. Roger was amazing and perfect and gorgeous and sweet…

"Wow", Mimi finally voiced.

"Wow is right", Roger agreed.

"So, what are you doing tomorrow night?" Roger asked.

"Nothing, why?" Mimi replied.

"What do you say we do something together?" Roger suggested.

"I'd like that", Mimi smiled, bravely kissing Roger yet again.

"Just for the record, Meems, I like you. A lot", Roger admitted once their lips had parted.

"I like you too…just for the record", Mimi giggled, smiling at Roger.

"Shit. Hold on. My pager's going off", Roger interrupted. **(A/N; They sooo had pagers in 1985…I think)**, "It's April. Can I use your house phone to call her?"

"Sure, of course", Mimi stated as the two entered the house and Roger made his way over to the phone to dial April's number.

"Hey April! You paged me? Did you have fun at formal? Mimi and I looked for you, but couldn't find you…what? April, why are you crying? What's wrong? What do you mean, April, we've known each other so long! You can tell me anything…No I won't hate you. That's ridiculous…YOU WHAT?? You tried to what??...thank God you didn't do it…April I'm worried about you. I'll be there in ten minutes…No don't worry. You're not ruining my date with Mimi…I'm using her phone. Is it okay if I bring her with me?...I'll make sure she doesn't tell anyone…I'll be there in ten minutes and don't try and convince me otherwise…Bye". Roger hung up the phone.

"April tried to kill herself", Roger lamented in disbelief.

"She what?" Mimi gawked.

"She tried to kill herself. I'm going over to her house. You can come if you want. Your curfew isn't for two and a half hours", Roger suggested, grabbing his car keys off of Mimi's kitchen table and heading toward the door.

"Are you sure it's appropriate-", Mimi began.

"Positive. I asked April and she said she wouldn't mind if my girlfriend came", Roger reassured, resulting in Mimi smiling to herself at the word 'girlfriend' as the two rushed rapidly toward Roger's car.

MEASUREYOURLIFEINLOVEMEASUREYOURLIFEINLOVE

"Oh, baby that was amazing," Angel moaned, nuzzling into his boyfriend's chest.

"Way to state the obvious", Collins smirked, kissing Angel.

"This has been the best night ever", Angel sighed.

"Once again, way to state the obvious", Collins smirked, causing Angel to chuckle.

"I bet 'Gilligan's Island' is your new favorite show", Angel laughed.

"Oh, you have no idea," Collins laughed.

"So, when are you gonna come out to your parents?" Angel asked.

"Soon, soon", Collins vaguely replied, resulting in Angel sighing. As if on cue, Collins heard his front door open.

"Shit, Collins, I thought your parents were spending the weekend at a spa in the city for their anniversary", Angel shouted, rising from his boyfriend's bed and rapidly sliding on and buckling his rhinestone-studded jeans.

"I thought so too," Collins shouted, throwing his clothes in his laundry hamper and sliding on his pajamas.

"Fuck, what do we do?" Angel muttered in sheer panic.

"Um…I'll pretend to be asleep and…um…her…shit they're coming up the stairs…um…hide in the closet!" Collins suggested, diving into his bed and shutting off the light as Angel slid into the closet. Not too soon after, Collins's bedroom door swung open.

"He's asleep," Mr. Collins muttered to his wife.

"I'm still in shock he and Maureen didn't throw a keg party, considering we were supposed to be out of town", Mrs. Collins giggled.

"I know, that girl's a wild one," Mr. Collins agreed.

"Tonight's formal though. Maureen went with Mark", Mrs. Collins informed her husband.

"Why didn't Thomas go?" Mr. Collins asked.

"I'm not sure", his wife pondered.

"Anyway, we should get out of his room…we don't want to wake him", he suggested.

"I still can't believe that spa's food gave me food poisoning", she complained as the two exited the room.

"Safe," Angel muttered a few minutes later, coming out of the closet, "Baby? Hello?" Angel asked again, poking Collins, who was apparently asleep. "I guess I wore you out", Angel laughed, kissing his boyfriend on the forehead before climbing out the window and heading to his house.

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Roger and Mimi entered April's dimly lit room to discover the girl lying on her bleach white sheets sobbing.

"April! Thank God!" Roger shouted, hugging her, "What were you thinking? Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine. I'm so sorry, Rog. I'll never do that again. I promise", April swore.

"Where did you even find a shotgun?" Roger asked in disbelief.

"My mom keeps it in her closet for safety", April explained.

"A shotgun? Damn. Why not handgun?" Roger questioned.

"I dunno", April responded.

"Rog, how is this important right now?" Mimi reminded him.

"Sorry, you're right", Roger agreed, "April, what were you thinking?"

"I'm so, so, so sorry. I just felt so alone. I was sitting at formal and everyone was dancing and having fun and talking with their friends. And me? I spent the whole day getting ready. I sewed this dress myself last weekend just for formal. I used up all the money I have for the past three month's pay at Burger King to afford these shoes. I spent two hours making my hair look perfect. I've wondered what formal would be like forever and I was finally a sophomore and able to go and no one talked to me the entire time. No one even spilled Coke on my dress, no one stepped on my toe. No one said hi. Nothing. It was as if I didn't even exist and I found myself wondering what the point of living is when you're dead to everyone else", April monologued, in tears by the end.

"April, that's not true. You're not dead to me. We've been friends as long as I can remember and we've been through so much together. I can honestly say I don't know what I'd do without you", Roger reassured, hugging her.

"Thanks, that really means a lot", April smiled, "I'm sorry to ruin your date, Mimi. You guys can go. It's late and I'm tired anyway".

"It's fine. You totally didn't ruin it. I understand", Mimi promised sincerely.

"You sure you're gonna be okay?" Roger checked.

"I'm fine. I was being an idiot. I can't believe I was actually suicidal. You guys should get going", April suggested.

"Okay, I'll see you later", Roger mumbled, hugging her once again.

"Hey, April," Mimi added.

"Yeah?" April replied.

"You know Angel Dummott Schunard, right?" Mimi questioned.

"Yeah", April responded.

"Well, we're going to Denny's Diner for breakfast. We do it every Saturday and Sunday and I was thinking maybe you'd like to join us", Mimi invited.

"Sure", April smiled, "that'd be nice".

"Okay, cool. So we'll see you there around 10-ish", Mimi stated before she and Roger exited April's room.

**A/N: There's chapter 10. Push the pretty button ******


	11. Chapter 11

MEASUREYOURLIFEINLOVEMEASUREYOURLIFEINLOVE

**Author's Note: Well, here's chapter 11. Thank you to all of you who reviewed! I really appreciate it! ******

**Disclaimer: I don't own RENT, The Stepford Wives, Denny's, or Gilligan's Island. I know. Boohoo. Poor me. Okay, on with the story…**

"Morning mom, morning dad", Collins mumbled as he plopped down at his kitchen table in his blue pajama pants and oversized gray t-shirt, glancing out the window at the crisp December snow falling to the ground.

"Good morning, son", his father grinned, looking up from that morning's copy of 'The New York Times'.

"Here you go, honey. We're having scrambled eggs for breakfast. Let me know how you like the new kind of wheat toast I bought", Mrs. Collins smiled brightly. Collins loved his parents, but sometimes he swore they were straight out of that 70s movie "The Stepford Wives".

"I heard you guys come in last night. I thought you were at the spa until tonight", Collins reminded.

"Yes, I got food poisoning", Mrs. Collins grimaced.

"I'm sorry, ma", Collins sincerely muttered. He began thinking about what Angel had said. His parents were good people and they loved him. He should tell them the truth…

"Mom, Dad, um, I, uh, need to, uh, tell you guys something", Collins stuttered, "It's, um, sort of important". He eyed his father who put down the paper as his mother took a seat at the table.

"What is it, Thomas?" his father asked.

"Uhm, well, uh, er, I'm, uh, uhm", Collins mumbled.

"What is it, honey?" his mother kindly interrogated, concern laced in her voice.

"I-I'm gay", Collins admitted, eyes on his eggs. Dead silence. After about five minutes of deafening silence, his mother finally spoke up.

"Well, honey, that's you're choice", she grinned.

"We're there for you son", his father added, leaving Collins stunned and mildly confused at their reaction.

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"Hey, Ang", Mimi grinned, plopping down next to Angel at their usual booth in Denny's, wearing silver heeled boots, black skinny leg jeans, and a pink oversized sweatshirt, the top of her hair clipped back, her bangs hanging down **(A/N: Like how Mimi's hair is in the movie version during "Light My Candle" and the majority of the movie)**.

"Hey, chica, so I wanna hear all about formal. Every detail", Angel insisted.

"Not until I hear about your night with Collins", Mimi rebutted, wiggling her eyebrows, "by the way, April's joining us".

"April? As in Roger's ex-girlfriend April?" Angel questioned, dumbfounded.

"Yeah, I'll explain", Mimi stated.

"That would mean I would get to hear about your night first", Angel smirked.

"Fine, you win," Mimi agreed.

"Ha. Now spill" Angel grinned.

"Okay, so Roger picks me up and he looks completely amazing and all I can think about his how much I love my life and in the car we were talking about how completely annoying folk music is and how the inventor needs to move to North Korea. And once, we were at a stoplight and I was 'looking' out the window' but I was actually watching him out of the corner of my eye and he was totally staring. So then we get to formal and we get food, which by the way was disgusting…you totally missed nothing there. Then, Maureen walked in and I went over to say hi and get details on how things were going with Mark, and she told me that he told her he loved her and that they kissed and I totally freaked out. By the way, remind me to tell you an amusing anecdote about how Maureen had to drive to formal when I'm done telling you everything else," Mimi monologued.

"Will do", Angel nodded.

"Anyway," Mimi continued, "so then Charity, you know the girl who's playing Roxie, walked over and Maureen and I said hi and she congratulated Mo on getting the role of Velma and I was like 'What?', after Charity left, and Maureen told me that Stanton offered her the role of Velma and she actually took it. Can you believe her? We've been best friends since first grade and she chooses a stupid part in a stupid play over our friendship and then has the nerve to defend it by saying that Stanton was just giving me 'constructive criticism' and I 'couldn't handle it'. So then I got really pissed and started yelling at her and finally I yelled at her and told her our friendship was over. And then I sat back down and Roger was really sweet and asked me if I was okay, and I told him I was and then we danced for the rest of the night. Then, later, he drove me home and we were standing on my doorstep and it was like, you know, that moment. And we both leaned in and we kissed. It was by far the most amazing moment of my life. I swear, chico, there were fireworks. So then, Roger's pager goes off and it's April, so he uses my phone to call her and it turns out she tried to shoot herself. So we go over to April's and she's crying and I feel really bad for her. She spent the whole day getting ready for formal and she was really looking forward to it and she made her dress herself and she was so excited and then no one talked to her the entire time at formal, so she went home and thought that she was basically invisible so why continue to live and was about to shoot herself but couldn't bring herself to do it, and that's when she called Roger. So I invited her to breakfast. She should be here any minute. I mean, I think she's probably really nice and I kind of know how she feels. I mean, not really, because I have a lot of friends and stuff, but just…I don't know…I just…get it."

"Wow", Angel responded.

"Wow?" Mimi questioned, raising one eyebrow.

"Of all the things for me to miss. Ohmigod. I didn't even know it was possible for so much to happen in one night", Angel stated in disbelief.

"You're telling me. Oh, and by the way, Alison Grey's knocked up", Mimi added.

"What?" Angel exclaimed, "Benny's?"

"Supposedly. She told him at formal and he walked out without saying anything. She's gonna double check and make sure she's actually pregnant but she's pretty sure", Mimi explained.

"You're amazing, Meems. How do you even know all of this?" Angel inquired.

"The whole school heard by the end of the night", Mimi clarified.

"Ah, I'm so disappointed I missed it", Angel pouted.

"Oh, and Roger asked me to go to the movies tonight," Mimi gloated.

"Seriously? That's awesome, chica! What are you gonna wear?" Angel asked happily.

"You're looking at it. It's snowing out and this is my cutest warm outfit", she explained.

"I like it. Sounds good, but I'd use a different lipstick shade that's more complimentary to your complexion", Angel suggested.

"Okay," Mimi agreed.

"What movie are you guys seeing?" Angel inquired.

"Not sure yet", Mimi informed.

At that second, April entered the restaurant. She was wearing plum colored sweatpants, white tennis shoes, two tank tops in two different shades of green with a white sweatshirt.

"Hey", April smiled, plopping down next to Mimi.

"Hey," Mimi and Angel grinned back.

"Thanks for inviting me," April thanked.

"Of course", Mimi replied, "so, Ang, I want details, now".

"o0o0o0o, details on what?" April interrogated. Mimi threw Angel a look asking if April was allowed to know about he and Collins and Angel grinned and nodded back.

"What he and Collins did last night", Mimi giggled.

"Ohmigod, Tom Collins? I didn't even know he was gay!" April shouted in surprise, "You guys are together?"

"Yeah," Angel shyly smiled.

"o0o0o0o! Now I wanna know too! What happened?" April rapidly inquired.

"Well, I went over to his house because his parents went to a spa in the city for their anniversary over the weekend and we ordered pizza and were watching reruns of 'Gilligan's Island' and then we started kissing and then we…you know", Angel confessed.

"Ohmigod!" Mimi and April screeched in unison.

"But then, when we were, uhm, done, his parents came home, so we panicked and I hid in the closet and by the time I came out he was asleep, so I climbed out of the window", Angel finished.

"Ohmigod", Mimi and April repeated.

"That's awesome, chico!", Mimi squealed before getting up and moving to the other side of the booth to hug her friend.

"It was awesome", Angel mused dreamily.

"I'm so happy for you", April grinned.

"Thanks," Angel smiled, "but one thing is bothering me".

"What?" Mimi kindly asked.

"Collins still hasn't come out to his parents and I really want him to be honest with them", Angel ruminated.

"He'll probably tell them when he feels the time is right", Mimi pondered.

"I hope it's soon, because them not knowing is making me really nervous", Angel admitted.

"I'm sure he'll tell them now that you're relationship's gotten so serious", April reassured.

"I hope so," Angel sighed.

"So April, if you're not doing anything after breakfast, Angel and I are hitting the mall to go Christmas shopping. Do you wanna come with?" Mimi invited.

"Sure, I'd love to", April grinned.

"M'kay, cool", Mimi responded.

"So, what are you guys getting?" April asked.

"An omelet", Angel informed.

"Coffee and French toast", Mimi stated, "What about you?"

"I was thinking about chocolate chip pancakes", April mused.

"0o0o0o0o, those are really good", Mimi hinted.

"Sweet, I'll get that", April remarked happily. She smiled to herself. It felt good to have friends.

MEASUREYOURLIFEINLOVEMEASUREYOURLIFEINLOVE

"Hey, Mrs. Cohen," Maureen shouted as she swung open the door to the Cohen's house, dressed in a gray shirt, tight white pants, and black boots, with a jacket and scarf thrown on to keep her warm in the cold, snowy weather.

"Hello, Maureen", Mrs. Cohen sighed, obviously disappointed at Maureen's choice to ruin her relaxing Sunday morning.

"Is Marky home?" Maureen asked.

"He's in his room…asleep", Mrs. Cohen hinted.

"Thank you!" Maureen yelled, running toward his room and swinging the door open.

"Hi, Marky", Maureen hollered, sitting next to her boyfriend's sleeping body.

"Maureen? What the hell? It's ten in the morning", Mark grumbled, throwing his pillow over his head.

"Pookie, c'mon, wake up. It's snowing out", Maureen squealed.

"Uggghhh, I hate you right now", Mark growled, getting out of bed and going into his bathroom.

"Where are you going?" Maureen asked.

"To change", Mark mumbled.

"Oh", she replied, "Wear warm clothes! Do you wanna go out to breakfast? The Oak Tree Diner has their Sunday special!"

"Sure", Mark smiled, reentering the room adorned in warm clothing and certainly more awake, "why don't we go to Denny's though? They have better pancakes".

"No", Maureen flatly answered.

"Why not?" he asked, pushing the subject further.

"You know. Mimi and Angel will be there and Mimi and I are no longer friends. She's a self-centered bitch who can't take constructive criticism", Maureen lamented.

"Mo, I know you guys are mad at each other, but you can just end your friendship over something so stupid. You guys've been friends since first grade. You can't let a role in a dumb play come between you", Mark stated.

"Too late", Maureen muttered, "Let's just go to the Oak Tree Diner okay?"

"Sounds good," Mark responded, planting a kiss on his girlfriend's lips.

**A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed chapter 11. Review and I'll update soon ******


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12:

**A/N: HAPPY SUMMER VACATION!! I'm stuck at home to rot all summer so updates will be frequent and oneshots will be plentiful. Here's chapter 12. Mark/Roger FRIENDSHIP will start in this chappie. By the way, the number of reviews I'm getting has seriously dropped. Please review people! Thank you to those of you who do! ******

**Disclaimer: If I owned RENT, I would spend the summer in Manhattan rather than rotting in stupid California.**

Alison sat in her room thinking about Benny. Big surprise. It was Sunday afternoon, and she had a doctor's appointment for the next day to get a blood test done and make sure she was actually pregnant. Benny walked out when she told him. Did this mean they were over? Did he just need some time to think? It was killing her. She had to know. As if on cue, there was a knock on her bedroom door. She looked down at her pajamas and immediately pulled a red sweatshirt over them. She then shuffled over to her door and swung it open to reveal Benny standing before her.

"Hey," she mumbled, "you come to break it off for real?"

"No, Ali, I need to talk to you", Benny kindly and sincerely stated.

"Okay, shoot", Alison grumbled.

"I love you. A lot. I've never felt this way before and I'm sorry about my reaction to your news. I mean, we're only sixteen, you have to understand why I would be shocked, but it was wrong to just walk out and leave you alone, hurt, and disappointed. I'm sorry and I promise I will never do anything that heartless or immature again", Benny lamented, causing Alison to lean in and give him a firm kiss.

"Thank you so much. I really appreciate it and I love you too, baby", Alison grinned, "I have a blood test at the doctor's office tomorrow to get the pregnancy double checked and I guess we'll figure out what to do from there".

"Whatever you choose to do, I'll be by your side", Benny promised.

GIVEINTOLOVEORLIVEINFEARGIVEINTOLOVEORLIVEINFEAR

Roger sat in his room tuning his Fender and staring outside at the white snow falling to the ground. He was going out with Mimi that night and he couldn't wait. It was two o'clock. Only four more hours. The night before was by far the most amazing night of his life. He was concerned about April, but she seemed to have come to her senses. A few minutes later, he heard a knock on his bedroom door.

"Who is it?" Roger hollered.

"Mark Cohen is here to see you", Mrs. Davis shouted.

"Tell him to come in", Roger yelled, wondering why Mark was there. They weren't even friends. He sat with him and the rest of Mimi's friends at lunch and had gotten to be pretty good friends with Collins, Angel, and Maureen, but not Mark or Joanne. Mark entered the room wearing khaki pants, a blue and white striped scarf, a blue and red sweater, and a plaid jacket.

"Hey, Mark," Roger nodded, not looking up from his guitar, "what's up?"

"I need to talk to you about Mimi and Maureen", Mark informed, resulting in Roger putting down his guitar and giving his attention to Mark.

"Okay," Roger replied.

"Mimi and Maureen have been friends as long as I can remember. They're practically inseparable. They do everything together and it's always been Mimi and Maureen, Maureen and Mimi. They're always there for each other through thick and thin. Personally, I think it's a shame for their friendship to deteriorate over a stupid role in a stupid play", Mark lamented.

"I agree," Roger commented.

"Okay, so I have a plan", Mark continued, "What are you and Mimi doing tomorrow night?"

"Nothing yet", Roger responded.

"Good, I have a plan", Mark informed, "We go on a double date."

"A double date?" Roger chuckled.

"Yes, a double date. We don't tell them it's a double date though. We tell them both we wanna take them to Pizza Palace, you know, that old pizza parlor by the library and we meet there. We'll pretend it's just a funny coincidence, and I'll suggest we all sit together. There's no way they'll be able to ignore each other all night. What do you say?" Mark monologued.

"Okay," Roger sighed, "I'm in".

"Okay, good. So five o'clock tomorrow night at Pizza Palace", Mark stated.

"Five thirty, Mimi has tap and jazz after school", Roger reminded.

"Yeah, that works out better anyway…Maureen has 'Chicago' rehearsal. So five thirty", Mark suggested.

"Deal", Roger agreed.

GIVEINTOLOVEORLIVEINFEARGIVEINTOLOVEORLIVEINFEAR

"Son, we have a surprise for you", Mrs. Collins informed, knocking on Collins's door.

"What is it, mom?" Collins asked, swinging his door open, "I'm supposed to meet Angel in an hour to study for our French test," he lied.

"Well, you're going to have to call and cancel", Mrs. Collins stated.

"What? Why?" Collins asked.

"You're father's boss and his wife and daughter, Samantha, are coming over for dinner tonight and you have to be there", Mrs. Collins explained.

"What? Why?" Collins repeated.

"C'mon, honey, it'll be fun. And Samantha is a very nice girl", his mother suggested. Collins sighed to himself. Apparently his parents hadn't gotten the whole gay memo.

**A/N: Well, there's chapter 12. Press the pretty purple button! You know you want to! ******


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: Hello there. Sorry I haven't updated sooner. I spent five days at my grandma's internet-less and then my friend got me hooked on the Twilight series. Anyway, here's chapter thirteen. I hope you enjoy it! Thank you to all of you that reviewed and please continue to do so! ******** Also, isabella nightmare, thank you for reviewing and you'll get the answer to your question in this chapter.**

Angel walked into his room and flopped on his bed. He, April, and Mimi had been shopping since eleven that morning and it was four. His legs were killing him. Mimi's date with Roger was in a few hours and she had to go home finishing up a history paper before their date and April had to go to work. They'd gotten a lot of holiday shopping done though, and Mimi found an awesome pair of blue pants for herself that looked amazing with her black boots. Angel heard a slight tapping on the door, sauntered toward the door, and swung it open to reveal Collins standing before him.

"Hey," Angel smiled.

"Hey," Collins grinned back, "last night was…fun".

"It was," Angel agreed, pressing his lips against his boyfriend's.

"So, um, with that in mind…I need to talk to you", Collins mumbled.

"What do you mean we need to talk?" Angel interrogated.

"I mean that we need to talk", Collins vaguely responded.

"'We need to talk' is code for 'I'm about to dump you'", Angel elucidated.

"Since when?" Collins laughed.

"Since always", Angel answered seriously.

"Well, I'm not breaking up with you. I love you too much to break up with you. Now, what I actually had to tell you", Collins began.

"Wait, what did you just say?" Angel interrupted.

"That I wasn't breaking up with you", Collins stated, confusion laced in his voice.

"After that," Angel clarified.

"I was about to explain what I needed to talk to you about", Collins muttered.

"No! Before that", Angel explained.

"I already told you. I'm not breaking up with you," Collins restated.

"No! Stop! Not that! After that and before you about to tell me what you needed to talk about", Angel stated, clearly frustrated.

"Th-that I love you", Collins mumbled.

"Do you really mean that?" Angel gawked.

"Yes, I love you more than anything. You're my world and I mean that whole-heartedly and sincerely. I would do anything for you", Collins promised, but was cut off when Angel pressed his lips against his.

"I love you too," Angel confessed, "And I have loved you for quite some time now".

"Really?" Collins gaped.

"Really", Angel reassured with a smile. The two lovers shared a small lovely kiss yet again. "Now what did you want to tell me?"

"My parents suck", Collins flatly stated.

"Did you tell them? Did they not take it well?" Angel inquired with concern.

"I told them and they said they supported my decision and that they were there for me. I knew it was too good to be true. I was getting off too easy. Then my mother told me I had to cancel my plans with you for tomorrow", Collins monologued.

"Why?" Angel interjected, "Are you not allowed to be around me anymore?"

"No, of course not. But it's almost as bad. They're setting me up with my dad's boss's daughter, Samantha", Collins groaned.

"That isn't that bad. You can deal with it for one night", Angel reassured.

"You're not mad?" Collins whimpered.

"Mad?" Angel giggled, "Honey, why would I be mad?"

"That I have a…date", Collins clarified.

"It's not like you want to go out with her and she's a woman. You're gay. I have nothing to worry about…unless you're bi", Angel mused.

"I'm not", Collins laughed.

"Well, then I'm sure I have nothing to worry about. We're in love after all", Angel grinned.

FORGETREGRETFORGETREGRETFORGETREGRETFORGETREGRET

"Maureen…I…am…freezing!" Mark yelped as he and Maureen trudged through the newly fallen snow in the dark. The young couple was walking through Scarsdale Town Square. It was almost seven and the area was empty except for Mark and Maureen. They were headed to the local diner to get something for dinner. Maureen wouldn't allow them to take the car and had insisted on walking in the icy snow.

"C'mon, Marky, you know you're enjoying it", Maureen squealed.

"I…am…not", Mark shivered.

"Are too!" Maureen grinned as she threw an icy snowball hurdling toward her boyfriend, it slamming into his plaid jacket.

"Maureen…you…are…not…funny", Mark trembled.

"I'm not trying to be. I hope you know how pathetic is it that your girlfriend is attacking you with snowballs and you're not fighting back. Wimp", Maureen teased.

"Oh, fine, you're in for it now," Mark chuckled, shuddering a bit from the icy chill running through his bought before hurdling a mass of white snow at his girlfriend.

"Bring it on, cream puff", Maureen giggled, dodging Mark's snowball and chucking one back at him.

"Did you just call me cream puff?" Mark laughed, but was interrupted when smacked in the face with Maureen's snowball.

"I believe I did", Maureen giggled.

"Bring it on, Johnson," he jokingly threatened, tossing a mass of white snow at her.

FORGETREGRETFORGETREGRETFORGETREGRETFORGETREGRET

"That was fun", Mimi smiled as the two stood on Roger's door step together.

"I really hated that movie though", Roger grimaced.

"No worries so did I", Mimi agreed, "I was with you though and that's all that matters".

Roger smiled and pressed his lips against hers, feeling his pulse quicken and his temperature rapidly rise.

"Sooo, what do you say we do something after your dance class tomorrow night?" Roger suggested.

"Mmmmm, what do you have in mind?" Mimi asked, kissing Roger gently on the cheek.

"How about dinner at Pizza Palace?" Roger invited, kissing his girlfriend along her jaw line.

"It's a plan", Mimi agreed, finding Roger's lips and pressing them against hers gently.

"So, how did Christmas shopping with April and Angel go?" Roger curiously inquired as the two entered Mimi's house and headed toward her bedroom.

"It was really fun. I'm really glad I got to know April, Rog. She's so much fun and such a sweetheart", Mimi stated sincerely.

"I know, she really is. I'm really glad you two hit it off", he grinned.

"So, any chance you've bought my Christmas present yet?" Mimi hinted, smiling at Roger as the two entered her room and flopped on Mimi's bed.

"Hey, I'm not giving you any hints", Roger warned.

"Not even one?" she pressed.

"Sorry, Meems, it's a surprise. I really hope you like it though," Roger stated.

"I will," Mimi reassured.

"How do you know?" he continued.

"Because it's from you", Mimi grinned.

"I hope you know how completely cheesy that sounded", Roger laughed, "I swear we belong on a nighttime soap".

"Ha, ha, ha," Mimi glared, pressing her lips against Roger's. The kiss quickly grew more passionate as Mimi's mouth slid open allowing Roger to slip his tongue into her mouth and explore the familiar territory. However, Roger soon pulled away.

"Have I mentioned that I love cheesy nighttime soap operas?" he interrupted.

"I'm glad," she giggled as their lips met again.

**A/N: Well, there's chapter 13. I know it was really fluffy and pointless, but two bad. The next chapter will be better. Review anyway…?**


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: Hello luverly readers! ******** Thank you to all of you who have been reviewing! I greatly appreciate it and please continue to do so! The more reviews, the quicker the updates. Ponder that. Also, I realized I said in one place that Samantha and her family were going to the Collins's for dinner that night (Sunday) and in one place I said the next night (Monday). It should be Monday night, which is the same night of the Mark/Maureen Mimi/Roger double date, all of which will be in this chapter. ******** Anyway, here's chapter 14.**

**Disclaimer: RENT + Journeynot mine. **

"Honey, the Andersons are here", Mrs. Collins called, "Come downstairs and greet them".

Collins groaned, rising from his desk where he was working on a World War II paper, and trudged out the door and down the stairs. His parents were unbelievable. It was like they didn't even hear him when he had said he was gay. Collins reached the doorway and saw three people before him. The couple looked like they were in their mid-forties. Mr. Anderson had black hair that was beginning to get slightly gray at the ends and was dressed in a gray pinstripe suit to match his change in hair color. His wife had a brown bob, but the way it was styled, combined with her vintage sunflower dress, made her look like she belonged in 1955 rather 1985. Samantha stood behind her parents staring at the floor. She looked about sixteen and had long, straight brown hair that hung to the middle of her shoulder blades. She was very thin and her face was adorned with freckles. She had large green eyes and looked like she was about 5'7". Much to Collins' relief and delight, she looked just about as thrilled as he did.

"Ted, Dolly, this is my son Thomas," Mr. Collins introduced.

"Collins, I got by Collins", he mumbled, shaking their hands.

"And this is their daughter, Samantha", Mrs. Collins introduced, nudging her son not-so-subtly.

"I go by Sam or Sammy", she grunted to Collins.

"Well, Ted, Dolly, come on in and we'll talk a little while dinner cooks. Thomas, honey, why don't you show Samantha here your room?" she suggested.

"Sure, whatever", he groaned, shuffling up the stairs with Samantha in close pursuit. Once in his room, she finally spoke.

"You look just about as thrilled as I do", she remarked.

"Sorry", Collins apologized, "I mean, I'm sure you're a nice girl, but I'm just not interested".

"Hey, that's fine with me", Sammy smiled, "Trust me. You have no idea what a relief it is that you're about as enthusiastic as I am. I have a boyfriend and when my parents found out they flipped. He drives a motorcycle, so they assume he's some horrible person. He's actually very sweet. They'd love him if they could get past his exterior. Those two are so stuck in the fifties".

"I'm sorry", Collins grinned, warming up to her now that he knew she was not in the least bit interested in him, "I know how you feel. I swear, my parents are straight out of 'The Stepford Wives', and no worries, I'm taken too."

"o0o0o, tell me about her," Sammy interrogated excitedly.

"Um, him actually", Collins corrected, eyes on the floor.

"So you're gay?" Sammy clarified.

"Yeah," Collins admitted, seriously hoping she wasn't homophobic.

"Oh, okay. Then tell me about him", she stated.

"You're cool with that?" he checked.

"Yeah, you are who you are", she pointed out.

"I couldn't agree more. Anyway, his name's Angel. Angel Dummott Schunard. We've been best friends since fifth grade. He came out in eighth grade, but I hadn't realized I was gay yet. I had that realization a few months ago, when my feelings for Angel started to surface. I told him how I felt and he felt the same way and we've been together ever since. He's the most amazing person you will ever meet. I told him I loved him yesterday", Collins monologued.

"That's so sweet!" Sammy squealed, hugging him.

"Um, thank you?" Collins replied.

"So, did you tell your parents?" she continued.

"Yeah, I did. And they said that they supported me no matter what I chose and that they were there for me and all that shit. Then, they set me up with you. I suppose they thought you would un-gay me or something," Collins chuckled, causing Sammy to giggle.

FORGETREGRETFORGETREGRETFORGETREGRETFORGETREGRETFORGETREGRET

Allison Grey drove home from her doctor's appointment that afternoon torn. She had gotten the blood test and it turned out it was a false alarm. She wasn't pregnant. But, how was she going to tell Benny? What if all that talk about being there for her and loving her was just because he felt obligated to do the right thing? Because he thought she was pregnant. She couldn't lie to him and he would find out eventually if she wasn't pregnant, but for the mean time, she wanted to keep believing he loved her; to keep believing he'd be there for her. She could tell him she wouldn't find out the results of the blood test until after the holidays; put it off a little bit. After all, having a merry Christmas couldn't hurt.

FORGETREGRETFORGETREGRETFORGETREGRETFORGETREGRETFORGETREGRET

"Hey, Rog", Mimi smiled, entering Pizza Palace and planting a firm kiss on her boyfriend's lips.

"Mmmm, hello", Roger grinned, "how was dance?"

"Good," Mimi replied, "it was pretty easy today. I'm not too exhausted".

"I'm glad," Roger stated as the two seated themselves at a booth with a perfect view of the Scarsdale Town Square.

"So, what have you done today? After all I haven't seen you in a whole four hours," Mimi gasped in mock horror.

"Very funny. I worked on that bio project with Angel. Ha, Collins is on his 'date' right now", Roger laughed, "God, his parents are idiots, have they heard of acceptance?"

"Oh, I so know", Mimi concurred, giggling. In the meantime, Mark and Maureen entered the restaurant.

"Ohmigod," Roger interrupted, "Mark! Hey!"

"Hey, Roger. What a surprise to see you here! I never would have guessed it", Mark responded, walking toward the young couple with Maureen.

"I have an idea, Mark. Why don't you join us?" Roger suggested, getting up and moving to sit by Mimi.

"Why thanks, Roger", Mark smiled, sitting down. Maureen and Mimi glared at each other before Maureen slid in next to her boyfriend.

"So, Mimi how was dance today?" Mark asked.

"Good. Great. Fabulous. I love my dance teacher. She doesn't treat me unfairly at all and understands the definition of constructive criticism", Mimi glared, causing Roger to give Mark a cautious glance.

"Well, Roger, are you coming to see 'Chicago'? I have to tell you it's coming along greatly, now that no one in the cast are self-absorbed, jealous, bitches who can't take constructive criticism," Maureen retorted with a glare toward her former best friend.

"Um, I don't think so", Roger muttered.

"So, um, Mimi, Roger, I got tickets to a Journey concert for next week. It's your guises Christmas present, but the concert's before Christmas, so I have to give it to you early. I have my own ticket, and am going. We can all three go, or you two can go as a date and I'll go separately. It's up to you," Mark invited.

"I hate Journey", Maureen muttered.

"Serioulsy?" Roger gawked.

"Thanks Marky, of course you can come with us," Mimi grinned.

"Yeah," Mark replied.

"Thanks, dude, Journey's awesome! You listen to them?" Roger exclaimed.

"Of course! Like you said, they're the best band ever! 'Don't Stop Believin'' is the best song ever!" Mark shouted, "What kind of music did you think I listened to?"

"I dunno…I always took you for the kid of guy who wished Buddy Holly never died", Roger smirked, "And by the way, 'Faithfully' and 'Open Arms'' are way better than 'Don't Stop Believin''".

"What? Are you kidding me? First of all, my mother listens to Buddy Holly, and second of all 'Don't Stop Believin'' is the greatest Journey song bar none", Mark argued.

"Sorry, babe, I have to agree with Marky", Mimi concurred, taking a break from the glare fest she and Maureen were having.

"Thank you, Meems", Mark grinned.

"Whatever, I think Journey sucks. How you can listen to that whiny music I will never know. The Bangles are way better", Maureen disagreed, and then went back to glaring at Mimi. And so, the night passed in the same fashion. Mimi and Maureen spent the entire time glaring at each other, only occasionally adding to the conversation Mark and Roger were having about Journey.

FORGETREGRETFORGETREGRETFORGETREGRETFORGETREGRETFORGETREGRET

"Thank you for coming over", Mrs. Collins smiled.

"Night Sam," Collins smiled, hugging her.

"Goodnight, tell your parents how you feel", she whispered in his ear, "They just need to accept that you're gay and get over it". With that, the Andersons, left the Collins home, shutting the door behind them.

"What was that, mom?" Collins interrogated.

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Collins naively stated.

"What the hell do you mean 'what do you mean?'. I tell you I'm gay and you're reaction is to set me up with some girl! Sam's really sweet, but I am gay! What do I have to do to get that through your head?" Collins hollered.

"Honey, listen, I discussed it with your mother, and we feel maybe you should see a psychologist", Mr. Collins informed his son.

"I'm not seeing a fucking psychologist! Do you understand? I am gay! You're not going to change that!" Collins yelled before stomping upstairs to his room.

FORGETREGRETFORGETREGRETFORGETREGRETFORGETREGRETFORGETREGRET

"Nice try, Rog", Mimi giggled as the two sat on her porch.

"What do you mean?" Roger innocently asked.

"Listen baby, it was sweet of you and Mark to try and get Maureen and I got make up, but it's not going to happen", Mimi mumbled.

"Meems, come here," he stated, pulling his girlfriend into his warm embrace, "I know how much Mo's friendship means to you and Mark knows how much yours means to Maureen, so we thought we'd try and get you guys to make up, but apparently that didn't work. It's just sad to see your friendship fall apart after you've been through so much together".

"I know, Rog. I know you meant well, it's okay," Mimi sighed, tears welling up in her eyes. They just sat that way in silence for several minutes, Roger stroking her hair. And, the best part was, it wasn't the least big awkward.

**A/N: Well, that was chapter fourteen. I hope you liked it. Please review even if you didn't! **


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: Wellll, here's chapter fifteen. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but as a result, you guys get a freakishly long chapter! Wooo! Anyway, this will be the second to last chapter so enjoy, and review please! ******** Thank you to those of you who have been doing so! Also, this chapter contains many flashbacks all of which are italicized. Enjoy and don't forget to review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own RENT. Only in my dreams. I know. Poor me. ******

Collins sat in his room, lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was pissed beyond words at his parents for what they had done the previous night. He hadn't said anything to them since Sunday night and it was already Thursday. He told Angel and Sammy how they had reacted and both said that he should talk to them, but Collins was still fuming.

How could they just pretend that they were cool with him being gay and that everything was fine and then set him up with Sammy? As far as Collins was concerned they were conniving liars who belonged in "The Stepford Wives".

That was it, he couldn't take it anymore. He was talking to them. Collins got up and swiftly exited his room, heading directly toward that of his parents' bedroom, knocking firmly on the door. Within seconds, Mrs. Collins answered the door.

"Thomas, what do you need honey?" she cooed in her sugary sweet tone.

"I need to talk to you and dad", Collins stated, entering the room.

"What's wrong, son?" his father asked, looking up from an issue of "The New Yorker".

"Look, I'm not seeing a psychologist, whether you guys like it or not", Collins reiterated.

"Honey, you already told us that, and we talked it over. We have decided we're not going to make you; however, we feel it would be best. You're obviously just confus-" Mrs. Collins began, but was cut off.

"No, mom, I'm not confused. I know exactly how I feel and what I'm doing. I know I'm gay. I'm very much in love with a guy and it's not just a very good friendship. I've never felt this way about another person before and it's phenomenal. If you can't accept that, then I'm sorry, but I'm not going to see a psychologist so you can try to un-gay me, because it's not going to happen. This is who I am. Take me or leave me", Collins monologued.

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Maureen kicked off her black, leather, stiletto boots and flopped on her bed, hitting play on her walkman as Madonna's "Like a Virgin", began to blast into her ears. Rehearsal was beyond tiring, and on top of it all, she dragged Joanne with the mall to her to shop for Mark's Christmas or Hanukkah or holiday or whatever present; after all, Christmas was on the 25th and it was already the 19th. She decided on a plaid jacket. It was just so…Mark **(A/N: I'm talking about the plaid jacket Mark wears in the play)**.

Maureen rolled over and looked at the clock. It was seven thirty; dinner would be served any minute. She was starving. Her mother was making roast for dinner and she could smell it in her room. It was pure torture.

"Maureen", Mrs. Johnson called from the hall.

"What?" Maureen called, hoping it was time for dinner.

Her mother swung the door open.

"Do you have any homework?" Mrs. Johnson interrogated.

"No," Maureen responded.

"Oh, well, good then", Mrs. Johnson smirked.

"Why?" Maureen asked, already regretting her answer.

"You need to clean your room. I went in here to drop off some laundry today, and tripped way too many times to count. It looks like your closet exploded in here. You can't even see the carpet", Mrs. Johnson lamented.

"Fine", Maureen pouted, rising to her feet as her mother shut the door and returned to cooking dinner.

If there was one thing Maureen hated it was cleaning her room. She liked her room. It was organized chaos…minus the organized part. She decided she would put all the dirty laundry in a pile first; that would clear up a little floor space. As Maureen rummaged through a pile of clothes thrown on the floor, something caught her eye poking out from under her dresser. It was a pink scrapbook.

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As Benny drove to Allison's house, he was completely confused. He didn't know what to believe.

"_You still haven't gotten the results?" Benny confirmed as he sat in his room, on the phone with his girlfriend._

"_They said they won't know until after the holidays", Allison explained._

"_Oh, that sucks. They're just gonna leave us wondering until after Christmas; that's not fair", Benny complained._

"_I know", Allison sympathized, feeling guilty for lying to her boyfriend, but simply pushing it aside, "I have to go to my bio homework. I'll talk to you later, baby. I love you"._

"_I love you, too", Benny stated sincerely, hanging up the phone. _

_Benny sighed to himself. Ugh. This wasn't fair. He and Allison's Christmas shouldn't be ruined by having to wait in anticipation. Maybe he could call the doctor's office and convince them to tell him somehow. It was four. They were still open. Maybe they could find some way to find out before the holidays. _

_Benny picked up the phone and dialed the number for Allison's doctor._

"_Hello, this is Janice at Dr. Disher's office, how may I help you?" Janice greeted._

"_Hi, Janice, this is Benjamin Coffin III speaking. My girlfriend came in to get a blood test done to find out if she's pregnant", Benny explained._

"_Allison Grey?" Janice confirmed._

"_Yes. Now I know you told her we wouldn't get the results of the test until after the holidays, but I was wondering if there's any way we could find out beforehand", Benny continued._

"_Honey, I dunno what you're talking about", Janice began, confusion laced in her voice, "Allison found out the results; she's not pregnant"._

"_Oh, um, thank you, sorry to bother you", Benny stuttered._

"_Any time, sugar, happy holidays", Janice remarked before hanging up, leaving Benny to revel in confusion._

When Benny reached the Grey household, he sprinted to the door and knocked on it rather firmly. Allison came to the door dressed in grey sweatpants and a Yale sweatshirt, her long blonde hair swept up into a ponytail.

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Maureen had completely forgotten about that scrapbook until now. Mimi had given it to her for her sixteenth birthday that August. It was a scrapbook of their friendship from age six, when they met, to present. At the end, there were blank pages that they could fill with new pictures.

Maureen forgot about cleaning her room, lifted up the scrapbook and walked over to her bed, plopping down with the book and opening it to the first page. It was filled with several pictures of the two girls in first grade. One stood out in particular. It was one of Collins, Mark, Mimi, and she from the first day of first grade; the day she and Mimi had met.

_Maureen Johnson sat in her first grade classroom talking to Tom Collins and Mark Cohen at one of the tables. It was the very first day of first grade and although Mark couldn't have been more excited, Maureen and Collins were already wishing it was over. Mark was showing off his new striped scarf __**(A/N: MINI MARKY SCARFY!!)**__, when they noticed the classroom door swing open. _

_A Latina girl with dark curls and big brown eyes entered the room wearing a red dress entered the room. She was obviously new. Maureen abandoned her conversation and ran up to the new girl immediately._

"_Hi! I'm Maureen Johnson, what's you're name?" she greeted._

"_I'm Mimi Marquez," the girl introduced, smiling._

"_You're nice and I like your dress," Maureen complimented, "Do you wanna be my friend?"_

"_Sure," Mimi grinned, "what do you like to do?"_

"_I like to ride my bike, sing, dance, act, and I love musicals", Maureen enthusiastically exclaimed._

"_Really? Me too", Mimi excitedly squealed, "I take dance and acting. I don't take singing, but I like doing it. Musicals are the best; my favorite's Annie"._

"_Annie's my favorite too", Maureen gasped, "I want a dog so that I can name it Sandy, but my mom won't let me get one"._

"_Awww, I'm sorry", Mimi sympathized._

"_It's okay," Maureen stated, "do you wanna meet my other friends?"_

"_Sure", Mimi smiled as Maureen walked her over to Collins and Mark._

"_This is Collins and Marky," Maureen introduced._

"_Hi," they both greeted._

"_Don't call me Marky," Mark added._

"_Call him Marky, it's really fun", Maureen whispered in Mimi's ear causing her to giggle._

_The two girls smiled. This was gonna be the start of a great friendship._

Maureen flipped through more pages of pictures of them throughout elementary school. Finally, one caught her eye. It was a picture of she, Mimi, and Joanne before the eighth grade Halloween dance.

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"What do you mean you're in love?" Mrs. Collins interrogated, "you never mentioned you're seeing someone".

"Well, I am" Collins shot back, "he's my everything. Like I said, this is who I am, take me or leave me".

"Honey, I think we should just accept him", Mr. Collins interjected, "If this is who he is we're not going to change it. We're just going to have to accept him and love him anyway".

"Thank you", Collins thanked, using all of his willpower to refrain from doing a happy dance.

"It's gonna take me some time" his mother gulped, "but okay. I understand this is who you are".

"Thank you", Collins repeated, hugging his mother; he felt blissfully happy.

He ran out of their room to go call Angel.

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"_Mo, don't worry, you look amazing, Jeff won't know what hit him" Mimi reassured, referencing Maureen's current crush._

"_You think so?" Maureen pressed, looking over her skintight cat suit as she placed cat ears on her head._

"_Positive", Mimi promised, spinning around in her Salsa dancer costume, "how do I look?"_

"_Amazing and you know it", Maureen laughed._

"_How do I look, guys?" Joanne asked, coming out of the bathroom in a flight attendant's outfit._

"_Great! I love the costume idea", Maureen shouted._

"_I agree, you look fabulous", Mimi promised._

"_Thanks, we should get going", Joanne pointed out, and with that the three friends left and headed to the dance._

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"_Let's go find Angel, Collins, and Mark", Mimi suggested to Maureen and Joanne once they had arrived at the dance._

"_Good idea", Joanne agreed, and the three immediately headed to the snack table where they assumed there friends would be._

"_Owwww," she wailed as someone stepped on her black heels._

"_Sorry", a boy with ice blue eyes and bleach blonde hair apologized; she immediately recognized him as Roger Davis._

"_Thanks", she muttered, and continued walking._

"_Chicas!" Angel shouted, running up and smashing the three girls into a group hug. _

"_Angel", Maureen squealed, "you having fun?"_

"_Yeah, I'm getting some glares though. I take it the gay thing has gotten around", Angel lamented._

"_Awwww, I'm sorry, chico. Ha, you know what? Just to have really shocked them you should have come in drag or something", Mimi chuckled, causing Angel to laugh along with her._

"_M-Maureen, y-you look amazing", Mark stuttered._

"_Thanks, Marky", she grinned, throwing her arms around him as he blushed a violent shade of red._

_Just then, Jeff walked up. He had dark red hair and green eyes and was dressed a pirate._

"_Hey, Mo", Jeff greeted._

"_Oh, hey", Maureen stated, immediately detaching herself from Mark and trying to act casual; however, she was failing miserably._

"_So, do you wanna dance?" he invited._

"_Sure," Maureen replied, heading out to the dance floor; as she started to walk off she turned and gave Mimi a look of extreme giddiness._

"_Marky, you wanna dance?" Mimi asked when she noticed the dejected look on Mark's face._

"_No," he sighed, and muttered something about being a loser to himself._

"_Angel?" Mimi inquired._

"_Why, of course," Angel laughed, pulling his best friend onto the dance floor._

_About halfway through a Bee Gee's song, Maureen walked up, looking absolutely giddy and pulled Mimi outside._

"_Maur-Ow! My arm! It's gonna break! What's up?" Mimi chuckled, rubbing her arm once Maureen had finally released it._

"_He kissed me", Maureen squealed, doing a little jig to exhibit her happiness._

"_Ohmigod, are you serious?" Mimi screeched._

"_Yes!" Maureen screamed back as the two began happily jumping up and down._

"_This THE greatest day of my life!" Maureen happily yelled._

"_Ahhh, I'm so happy for you! I seriously probably won't be this excited when I get my first kiss" Mimi responded rather loudly and excitedly, however extremely sincerely, while pulling her friend into a hug, "What was it like?" _

"_It was amazing! Seriously, amazing," Maureen accentuated._

"_That's so awesome, Mo! I'm sooo unbelievable happy for you," Mimi giddily repeated, hugging her friend again, "Shall we go grab some celebratory licorice while you tell me the entire thing in extreme detail"._

"_Sounds good," Maureen laughed in response as the two headed over to get food._

_Maureen smiled. Mimi was the best friend a girl could ask for._

Maureen continued to flip through the pages until she found another one that caught her eye. It was a picture of Mimi, Collins, Angel, Mark, Maureen, and Joanne from Mimi's

Quiceañera the previous year.

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"Hey, baby", Allison smiled immediately giving him a firm peck on the cheek, "what are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you", Benny mumbled, and the two immediately headed toward her bedroom.

"What's wrong?" she questioned once they had closed the door and were both sitting comfortably on her bed.

"So, after I talked to you, I decided to call Dr. Disher's office and find out if there was any way for me to find out the results of the blood test, so I called and talked to the receptionist, Janice. She told me that you already got the results and that you're not pregnant," Benny confronted.

"Listen, baby, I-" Allison began.

"You what?" Benny cut off, "you what?"

"I was scared", she admitted.

"But, you're not pregnant, what is there to be scared of?" Benny angrily interrogated.

"That you wouldn't love me anymore", Allison murmured, keeping her eyes on her fluffy, white slippers.

"What?" Benny gaped his tone and facial expression changing completely from its previous state, "why wouldn't I love you anymore?"

"Because, I thought maybe you didn't really love me. Maybe you just said all that stuff about loving me and being there for me because you thought I was pregnant. Maybe, in reality, you didn't even care", she whispered, "I figured I would let you think I might be pregnant at least through the holidays. Then I would tell you afterwards and you would dump me because you never really loved me to begin with".

"Is that what you think?" Benny softly asked, embracing his girlfriend and kissing her hair as she cried into his forest green sweater and nodded, "Then, you have no idea how wrong you are. I love you more than anything. Pregnant or not. And I always will. You're the best thing in my life, Allison Grey, and don't you ever forget it."

Allison simply looked up and kissed him on the lips, "I love you too".

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_The ceremony had already ended and everyone was now dancing and enjoying themselves at the reception. The entire freshman class at Scarsdale High School was invited and everyone for the most part had shown up, even though Mimi was not very popular. Mimi walked past a couple heavily kissing at one of the tables; she recognized the couple to be Roger Davis and his girlfriend, April, and walked over to the table where her friends were sitting. She was wearing a beautiful, champagne-colored dress. It had touches of gold in it and was adorned with intricate beading patterns. She wore them with pink stilettos that matched the dresses of her damas, which consisted of Maureen, Joanne, three of her cousins, and her two sisters. _

"_You guys are being lame", she whined to Collins, Mark, and Joanne, "Come dance with me, Mo, Angel, and Matt"._

"_I'd rather not", Mark grumbled. _

_Mimi rolled her eyes, assuming this had to do with Mark being insanely jealous of Matt, Maureen's current boyfriend._

"_Joanne?" she asked._

"_I don't dance", Joanne flatly responded._

"_C'mon, please", Mimi begged._

"_I'll go with you, Meems", Collins offered, rising from his chair._

"_Thank you", she grinned, throwing her arms around him and pulling him out to where Maureen and Angel were dancing._

"_Where's Matt?" Collins asked._

"_I dunno", Maureen replied._

_The group continued to dance, until Mimi let out a shriek._

"_Owwww", Mimi wailed, looking down at her foot._

"_What?" Collins probed._

"_I guess this is what I get for dancing in heels", Mimi whined._

"_What happened?" Maureen interrogated._

"_My shoe broke", Mimi explained, pulling off her brand new pink stilettos. She had gotten them especially for her Quince__ñera, and now the heel had broken off._

"_I have some super glue in my purse; we'll see if we can fix them", Maureen suggested._

"_I so don't wanna know why", Collins remarked. Maureen responded by waving her acrylic nails in front of his face to remind him why as the two girls walked off._

"_Meems, I have to pee", Maureen stated._

"_Thank you, I totally needed to know that", Mimi teased._

"_Ha. Ha", Maureen dryly replied._

"_How about you go to the bathroom and I'll wait in the stairwell right by it and try to fix my shoe?" Mimi suggested._

"_Sounds good", Maureen concurred._

_Once Maureen had entered the bathroom, Mimi sat, attempting to superglue her stiletto, but failing miserably. She heard thud and looked up to see if it was Maureen coming out of the bathroom; maybe she would have more luck with this stupid shoe. Instead, she saw Matt, Maureen's boyfriend, heavily kissing Anne Thompson as the two entered the coat closet by the stairwell and slammed the door shut. _

_Mimi was in pure shock. How dare he do this to Maureen. Mimi tossed down her shoes and marched over to the coat closet, banging firmly on the door. Matt came opened the door with his shirt completely unbuttoned, with Anne standing next to him with mussed hair._

"_What? Can't you see we're bu-. Oh. Mimi. Heh. This really isn't", Matt began, but didn't get to finish his sentence._

"_You asshole! How fucking dare you do this! Especially to my best friend!" Mimi yelled, swinging her fist at Matt's jaw as Maureen exited the bathroom._

"_Ohmigod. What the hell is-", Maureen started, but stopped as soon as she saw Anne standing next to Matt, who was rubbing his newly injured jaw._

"_Mo, baby, this isn't what it looks like", Matt defended._

"_So, you weren't making out with Anne in the coat closet at my best friend's __Quince__ñera?" Maureen confronted._

"_Well, uh-" Matt stuttered._

"_That's what I thought", Maureen growled, tears starting to form in her eyes, "We're done"._

_Mimi punched him one more time, this time in the nose, before the two girls headed over to the stairwell._

"_You okay, Mo?" Mimi asked her best friend, who was crying next to her._

"_I really liked him, Meems," Maureen whispered._

"_I know, Mo," Mimi murmured, embracing her best friend._

By the time Maureen closed the scrapbook, she had tears in her eyes. She and Mimi had been through so much together. They'd helped each other in good times and in bad and never failed to have a good time. Mimi really was the best friend a girl could ask for. Mark was right. They had been through way too much together to let their friendship fall apart. Especially over a role in a stupid production. Sure, Mimi had always sort of been jealous of Maureen, and sure Maureen enjoyed it, but at the end of the day, they were still best friends, no matter what. Maureen sighed to herself. This whole fight between her and Mimi was ridiculous. Maureen had then come to a decision. She was going to quit Chicago.

**A/N: Wellll, that was chapter 15. If you wanna see a picture of ****Mimi's ****Quince****ñera dress; Maureen, Joanne, and the rest of her damas dresses; and Mimi's shoes, the links are on my profile. Review please! It makes me update faster! ******


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: Wahhhhh, this is the last chapter. ******** Anyway, thank you to all of who have reviewed the story and please continue to do so ;) Special thanks to ByTheBeautifulSea, Addicted412, FelineMimiDavis74, and theXfactor11 for reviewing regularly! It really means a lot. Also, thank you to my fabulous friend Kendra for beta-ing pretty much the whole story and also reviewing every chapter. Anyway, read, review, and enjoy! ******** Also, if you like Mark/Maureen, I just wrote two Mark/Maureen oneshots that you could always read and review. hint hint**

**Disclaimer: If I owned RENT I would be sitting inside the Nederlander seeing RENT for the third time rather than sitting in front of my laptop with a horrible sunburn writing RENT fanfictions.**

"Hi, this is Mimi. May I speak with Angel please? Oh, hey Collins. Thanks. Hey, Ang, Merry Christmas Eve", Mimi greeted her friend via telephone, "Yeah, it's good so far. Oh, sorry to, um, interrupt. So we're all meeting at the Oak Tree Diner for lunch at 2? Okay, sounds good. Sorry again. I have to go anyway. Someone's at the door. Enjoy doing, uh, whatever you're doing. Okay, bye".

And with that, Mimi hung up the phone and headed toward the front door, swinging it open.

"Maureen", Mimi coldly greeted, "what do you need?"

"Meems, I need to talk to you," Maureen informed.

"Um, okay, come in," Mimi invited, taking on a slightly kinder tone as the girls headed toward Mimi's room and flopped on her white comforter.

"What's up?" Mimi asked.

"I'm sorry, Meems. I was being a bitch. I was cleaning my room the other day-" Maureen began.

"Wait, freeze", Mimi interrupted.

"What?" Maureen asked.

"You were cleaning your room?" Mimi gasped in disbelief.

"Yes", Maureen laughed.

"You?" Mimi gawked

"Yes", Maureen clarified.

"Maureen Johnson?" Mimi gaped.

"Yes", Maureen repeated for the third time.

"Well, hell must be freezing over then", Mimi giggled in response.

"Anyway," Maureen continued, "I was cleaning my room and I found the scrapbook you gave me for my sixteenth birthday. I looked through it and started reminiscing and stuff; thinking of all the fun times we've had together and I realized that we have a great friendship. We've been through so much together and always been there for each other through thick and thin and a role in a stupid school play isn't worth our friendship. So, I quit 'Chicago'. I was being a major bitch and I'm so sorry".

"Aw, I'm sorry too, Mo", Mimi apologized, hugging her friend, "I was just on the verge of exploding. You have to understand just a little bit. Anything I can do you can do better and it drives me insane sometimes. I can act, but you can act better. I can sing, but you can sing better. I can dance, but you can dance better. Even when I do actually do better than you, you still get the recognition. Like, with the play. I got the lead, but I was still doing everything wrong and you were doing everything right. Then, when I quit, you got my role. I don't want to be jealous of you, but I can't help it sometimes".

"It's kind of my fault too", Maureen admitted, "I confess that I do slightly enjoy the fact that you live in my shadow. I know I shouldn't, but I do".

"Yeah, I know. Let's make a deal. Yeah, I'll always be kind of jealous of you, and yeah, you'll always enjoy the fact that I live in your shadow, but let's not let it get in the way of our friendship to the point where we're having screaming matches at winter formal, sound good?" Mimi suggested.

"Sounds like a deal", Maureen laughed, "And I really am sorry".

"Me too", Mimi agreed.

"So, friends again?" Maureen smiled.

"Friends again", Mimi chuckled, hugging her friend, "So, I have to know, how did Stanton react when you told him you were quitting 'Chicago'?"

"Ohmigod, I wish you could have been there," Maureen stated, begin to laugh, "The look on his face was priceless".

"I wish I could have been there", Mimi agreed, "So, who has our role now?"

"I think Charity got it", Maureen explained.

"Poor girl. I hope Stanton doesn't have it in for her too", Mimi commented.

"Yeah," Maureen agreed, "what's the time? **(A/N: Well, it's gotta be close to midnight. My body's talking to me, it says time for danger. It says-okay sorry. Stopping.)**"

"11:05" Mimi replied.

"Sorry, Meems, I have to go. I'm meeting Marky at 11:30", Maureen explained.

"Oh, okay. How are things going with you guys?" Mimi asked.

"Fabulously", Maureen smiled, "He's such a sweetie."

"He only had good things to say when he went to that Journey concert with Roger and me last week", Mimi hinted.

"Oh, really", Maureen smirked, "Like what?"

"Just that he loves you and that he's the luckiest guy in the world and all that jazz", Mimi explained.

"Aw, what else?" Maureen probed.

"That was the general idea; I don't remember it word for word", Mimi giggled.

"C'mon, you have to remember some of it word for word", Maureen continued.

"Sorry, I don't. But, next time I'm with Mark I'll bring a tape recorder and hide it in my jacket and record everything he says and then later we'll listen to it repeatedly and analyze it to no end", Mimi sarcastically teased.

"That's not a bad idea", Maureen stated, causing Mimi to break into a fit of giggles yet again.

"I was serious", Maureen clarified, causing in Mimi to simply continue laughing, "Okay, I seriously have to go meet Marky now".

"Okay," Mimi responded.

"Are you going to the Oak Tree Diner with everyone at 2?" Maureen questioned.

"Yeah, I'll see you there, chica", Mimi replied as Maureen gave her friend a hug and left.

A few minutes later, Mimi flopped on her couch and picked up her telephone to call Angel.

"Hi, this is Mimi calling. May I speak with Angel? Oh, hi again Collins. Thanks. Hey, Ang. Did I interrupt something again? Oh. Sorry. It's been like fifteen minutes, I thought maybe you guys were doing something else by now. Oh. You're not. Well, I just called to tell you Maureen was the person at the door. Very funny. No, neither of us are suffering injuries of any kind. We made up. Yeah, I know it's awesome. She quit 'Chicago' too. Tell Collins will you? Oh, there's someone at the door again. I'll let you and Collins get back to your, um, activities. Fine, I won't call you again. See you at 2. Okay, bye, chico".

Once again, Mimi rose off the couch and headed to the door, this time swinging it open to find Roger before her dressed in his usual plaid pants and leather jacket.

"Hey, Rog", Mimi smiled, planting a firm kiss on her boyfriend's lips.

"Hello", Roger grinned against her lips.

"Come on in", she suggested, pulling him toward her room, "So, you'll never guess who was just over here".

"Patrick Swayze?" Roger guessed.

"Very funny", Mimi glared, "Anyway, Maureen came over".

"Really? You're not missing any limbs. I'm floored", Roger remarked.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. That's what Angel said," Mimi continued, "Anyway, she told me she quit 'Chicago' and she apologized".

"That's great" Roger exclaimed, hugging his girlfriend and kissing her forehead.

"I know", Mimi concurred, "So, why are you here?"

"Um, well, um, well, uh, I, uh, needed to, well, um, tell you, uh, something", Roger mumbled.

"Um, okay," Mimi replied, looking up at her stuttering, tomato red boyfriend, "Are you okay?"

"Um, yeah, I'm, uh, fine", Roger stammered.

"Okay," Mimi skeptically replied.

The two then sat in silence for a few more moments.

"Rog, I thought you wanted to tell me something", Mimi reminded.

"I do", Roger clarified.

"Well?" Mimi probed.

"Right, uh, well. I should tell you-God, it's really hot in here, do you have your air conditioning on?" Roger panted.

"Um, considering it's December and snowing outside, no", Mimi giggled.

"Do you have some water or something to drink?" Roger asked.

"Uh, sure," Mimi informed, "I'll be right back".

With that, she rose and headed to the kitchen to get a bottle of water and came back in to her room, tossing Roger the bottle.

"Thanks", he thanked, drinking half of the bottle in one gulp.

"Rog, you're really starting to worry me," Mimi confessed, concern laced in her voice, "Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine," Roger explained.

"So, what did you need to tell me?" Mimi kindly interrogated.

"Oh, uh, nothing. It can wait", Roger muttered.

"Okay," Mimi stated, leaning comfortably against Roger and snuggling into his arm. He entwined his fingers with hers and pressed his lips against her dark curls.

"I love you", he mumbled so softly that Mimi could barely hear him.

"What?" Mimi inquired.

"I love you", he stated a little bit louder.

"You really mean that?" she asked, tears starting to form in her eyes as she looked up at him. He simply nodded.

"I love you, too", she confessed, pressing her lips against his, "Wait, is that what you needed to tell me?"

Roger simply nodded once again and she pressed her lips against his yet again. She smiled against his lips. This was the greatest day of her life bar none. Roger broke the kiss for a brief moment.

"This is the greatest day of my life bar none", Roger confessed.

"Me too", Mimi agreed, laughing before once again locking her lips with his.

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"Hey, everyone", Mimi greeted as she and Roger took a seat with Collins, Angel, Sammy, Sammy's boyfriend, Vince, April, and Joanne at the Oak Tree Diner.

"Hey", everyone responded.

"Oh, Meems, Roger, this is Sammy", Collins introduced.

"Hi, nice to meet you", Sammy greeted.

"You too," they replied.

"So, Meems, what the hell was so important that you had to keep calling Angel?" Collins chuckled.

"Sorry", Mimi apologized.

"It's fine, but you really need to work on your timing", he suggested, causing Mimi to laugh.

"Yeah, really, chica" Angel agreed, kissing his boyfriend.

Maureen then entered the restaurant, sliding into a seat with Mark limping closely behind her.

"Uh, man, are you okay?" Roger asked.

"Fine, just fine", Mark shivered.

"I took him ice skating. Turns out it's not his talent", Maureen explained, "He slipped every five feet".

"I swear I'm suffering from a spinal injury", Mark spat, "And frostbite".

"Aw, poor Marky", Maureen cooed, kissing her boyfriend.

"Mo, you wanna split a burger?" Mimi suggested.

"Sure," Maureen concurred.

"Whoa, I missed something here", April interjected, "Since when do you two not hate each other?"

"Since this afternoon", Mimi laughed.

"Finally," April smiled.

"Thank God. I was getting so sick of you guys hating each other", Joanne agreed.

"So, I have a surprise for everyone now that you're all here", Collins stated.

"What?" Maureen excitedly probed.

"So, my Christmas present to all of you is that my parents have a house in Vermont, and I'm inviting you all to come for New Years week", Collins invited.

"Seriously?" Maureen screeched, causing Collins to nod in response, "That's so awesome".

"Yay, road trip!" Mimi smiled.

"Hmm, that will be fun," Angel hinted, pressing his lips against Collins's.

At that time, Benny and Allison entered the café.

"Ugh, what are they doing here?" Mark groaned.

"Benny hasn't even talked to us since he started dating Allison" Joanne agreed, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, Benny", Angel casually greeted.

"What?" Benny asked.

"Um, just saying hi", Angel replied.

"Oh, hi", Benny stated. He had pretty much ignored his friends since he began dating Allison. He felt sort of guilty, but Allison didn't like his friends ever since Maureen and Collins played some prank on the cheerleading squad freshman year. Oh well, Allison was worth it, but he did feel pretty guilty for abandoning his friends.

"How have you guys been?" Benny questioned.

"Fine," everyone responded in unison.

"Baby, c'mon, let's take our seats", Allison suggested.

"Okay," Benny quietly agreed.

"She's got him under her grasp", Maureen quietly remarked to Mimi.

"You guys are such losers", Allison scoffed.

"Sweetheart, be nice", Benny cooed to his girlfriend.

"And in case you guys didn't get the memo, Bohemia is dead", Allison declared.

Mark then rose to his feet to protest.

**Fin**

**A/N: Well peoples, that's the end. I hope you liked it. ******** Now please press the pretty purple button and tell me what you think.**


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